Xainia of Darkspear
by Enendar
Summary: A story about the sorrow and misfortune a young troll, her mission to overcome terror and darkness, and the companions and enemies that she gained along the way. Update of Xainia's Story
1. Escape from Jintha'alor

**Chapter 1: Escape from ****Jintha'Alor**

The Hinterlands, just before the third war.

Surrounded by somewhat crumbling stone walls on three sides, a small hut stood. The structure had a straw roof and thin wooden sides. Inside a low table and a few chests were positioned neatly. Also inside, three trolls with blue skin sat about working with various objects. They were Darkspear trolls, a father, mother, and daughter.

"Xainia, go to tha market an bring back dinnah. Remembah, don' talk to anyone." Xaenus, her father, ordered.

Xainia was a very young troll; only fifteen years had passed since her birth. Only recently was she allowed to go as far as the market from the little plot where her house stood. It was easy for them to stay hidden, so easy that most trolls who saw them were surprised or offended to see the blue skins. A Darkspear troll in Lordaeron was unusual; a family of them in the great troll metropolis of Jintha'alor was even stranger.

"Same ting taday, Xainia?" The merchant questioned her.

"Ya, wolf meat." Xainia spoke, almost embarrassed; she paid and ran towards home with the pieces of meat.

Her father always instructed her to go right to the merchant and come right back, so she did not know much of the city. As Xainia went up some of the final steps to her remote corner of the city, she heard two voices and stopped. It was very unusual for anyone to come near her home.

"Atal'ai gonna use de ampitheata. We need da Vilebranch wit us wen Hakkar comes." The first voice, an older sounding male troll, spoke.

"We be wit ya, mon. Zul'jin be gone an we gotta fend fah oahselves." The other troll, also a male, replied.

"Good. We be startin' tha summon soon." The old troll continued.

Fearing the name she had just heard and fearing that they might notice her, Xainia quickly continued towards her house. She arrived and placed the steaks on the table.

Xaenus checked the meat completely to make sure that it was truly wolf and not some unfortunate Witherbark or Revanatusk troll "It be fine."

Xaenus was a blacksmith by trade, but he struggled to make a living among the trolls of Jintha'alor as many of them would not associate with a Darkspear troll. Every day the family ate wolf meat, it was the only non-troll meat that they could afford. Each day it had the same blend of bland herbs that Xainia's mother picked. Dining was more of a chore than something to look forward to for them.

"Papa, why ya have to check tha meat every night?" Xainia had always been told that she'd not need to know until she was older, but she had not asked for a while.

Her father winced. "Because we wanna make sure it's wolf an not one a us, tha Vilebranch tribe dat we live with eats its own kind."

"You mean otha trolls?" Xainia looked a bit horrified.

"Yes, Xainia. It be sometin ah will never have dis family do. It be why we stuck out 'ere an not wit dah rest ah our tribe."

"It mus be like tha strange trolls that were talkin' outside taday. Dey scared me."

"How's that?" her mother, Dalnuya, asked.

"Dey spoke about Hakkar, and getting tha Vilebranch's help."

Dalnuya almost dropped the potions she was mixing. "Hakkar?"

Xaenus looked very gravely at Xainia. "Are ya sure dey weren't young trolls playin'?"

"'e had a big voodoo mask, Papa."

"Dun speak ta anybody else 'bout dis, Xainia." Xaenus finished cooking the steaks quickly and served them the leathery meat.

"Ya, Papa" Xainia tore at the cooked wolf steak and drank some water.

After dinner, Xaenus went over to one of the chests in their small hovel and started working with some metal objects inside of it. Xainia went outside to check on the small garden that they grew behind the building. Nightfall came quickly. Around dark her father left for some time then returned.

"Dere be a fire up at da summit." he said when he came in.

Dalnuya looked very worried but she continued to lay out the mats and blankets that they slept under. Xainia lay down on her mat near her mother and looked over.

"Wha's tha fire for?" She paused then asked another question. "An if these trolls be cannibal, why we live here?"

Dalnuya turned to her to tell her. "Well, tha fire could be bad, vera bad. It might 'ave to do wit Hakkar." She shook her head "I 'ope dose trolls ya heard were jokin."

"As for why we're here, we've been forced into this sort a livin." Her father continued for Dalnuya. "We left bein cannibals an so da Darkspear and da otha trolls all leave us. Ah still call us Darkspear cause ah hope we can be da ones tah show em da way an stop da eatin eachotha. It coulda been sah much easier if da fightin did nah come, but da war force us tah live 'ere."

Xainia looked eager for knowledge; she had loved the stories of the battles that Xaenus had seen. "Ya mean tha orcs?"

"Ya, ah don't remember tellin ya their propa name." Xaenus picked the story back up. "Zul'Jin and tha orcs fought across tha lands an we tried ta stay out of it. In tha end, only ya motha an me made it out afta tha elves found tha Darkspear village. We had to take shelter in 'ere. When da horde lost, tha Vilebranch came back 'ere and tolerated us jus like dey do taday."

"But da elves an men been gone for years. Why we still 'ere?" Xainia looked as she pulled the blanket over herself.

"Because if we go out dere, we fair game for Vilebranch an Witherbark cannibals." Xaenus lay down on the other side of Dalnuya.

"Go ta sleep, Xainia. You be too young to tink 'bout dis" Dalnuya got under the blankets.

"Nite, Momma, Papa." Xainia, still very obedient, put it from her mind and slept soundly.

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The days passed on for some time, but life did not stay the same in Jintha'alor. The fire atop the summit stayed alight all the time and tales that the Vilebranch were even eating each other now found their way to Xainia's sensitive ears as she ran to the market each day. Every day, Xaenus would go somewhere when Xainia went to sleep and not return until the middle of the night. Upon return, he was covered in dirt and totally exhausted. Because of his late night work he ended up sleeping when he should be smithing in the middle of the day. On the whole, life was still peaceful, until the day almost three months later, when the Vilebranch's alliance with the Atal'ai would be sealed.

The sun shone red in the evening and lit up the clouds above Jintha'alor. Xainia was on her way back from the market when she saw a grand procession of trolls in masks and robes coming through the winding paths of the city. Vilebranch trolls were running ahead of the procession and clearing the way. As she was going down the path, she was in the way and one of them ran up to her.

"You be getting out da way.." The troll looked at her again. "You not Vilebranch! Eh boss, we got an intruda."

A larger troll from the runners yelled over. "I dun care. Get rid of 'er, out da way!"

Before Xainia could react, the runner butted into her with his tusks and then bit her arm hard, trying to chew a piece of it away. "Aaaaahhhh" Xainia yelped and grabbed her one of her assailant's tusks with her free arm.

Having one tusk pulled to the side obviously displeased this troll; he released his bite on her. Being frightened out of her wits, Xainia grabbed at whatever she could. Her hand landed on his other tusk and pulled the tusks in opposite directions. The runner flailed about trying to twist his head to free his tusks. As the runner grunted and tried to grab her, she kicked him in the forehead with both feet. The force from her still pulling snapped one of the long tusks off near the troll's mouth and he screamed in agony. Xainia got up quickly and ran off for home, clutching her bleeding arm.

The larger troll came up to the injured runner. "You lost a tusk?"

As the injured runner spat out some blood, he covered the broken bone with part of his sleeve that he had just ripped off.

"Eh boss! She got away! Tha intruda did this!" The attacking troll complained.

"Weaklin'" his boss insulted. Picking up the broken tusk, he belted the injured troll across the head several times. "No follow. Git tha path clear."

The attacking troll grimaced and went on to do his job; he was no match for the boss.

Xaenus saw his daughter coming down the path with a bloody arm and ran into the house to get his weapons from the small chest. Xainia ran into the house into her mothers arms and cried.

"Dere be sometin big out dere, Momma." She stifled out as Dalnuya held her.

"Wha happened… it looks like ya've been bitten." Her mother was quite shocked.

"One o da Vilebranch was makin way for a buncha trolls in masks. 'e saw I wasn' Vilebranch an he bit me." She was able to explain as her mother put some herbs on a wet cloth and bound the bite marks.

"Dun be takin' dis off." Dalnuya said as she finished tying the cloth.

A short time later, Xaenus came into the house. "It looks like dey didn' follow 'er." He went over to Xainia who was sitting against one of the walls. "You be ok?"

"Ya, Papa." She looked sad still. "I lost da wolf meat."

"It's ok, Xainia. Meat means nothin' long as you back safe." Xaenus hugged her.

In the middle of their embrace, a shrieking broke the air above Jintha'alor. Xaenus ran outside the house and looked up. Above the cityscape a great winged serpent flew towards the amphitheater at the summit. Xaenus' face filled with dread as he walked backwards into the house.

"What's it?" Dalnuya looked up from where she was sitting beside Xainia.

"It's a fear, dey are messin wit Hakkar up dere. A serpent come ta bear an egg. Jus like tha stories warn. Tha egg of Hakkar."

"We hafta use tha dig." Dalnuya spoke up.

"No… Pick tha garden clean an put it inna bag." Xaenus grabbed Xainia by her good arm and rushed out behind the house with her. "Xainia, dis be what ah work on evra night." He slid a stone on a ledge aside to reveal a deep tunnel into the mountainside under Jintha'alor.

"Papa? Why ya show me dis?" Xainia looked up at him, weak from a mixture of missing her regular food and being bitten.

"You gonna stay 'ere an go down dis tunnel if ah don come back tonight. It's almost done, enough ta push thru."

"Why don' we all go, Papa?" Xainia looked down the tunnel.

"Dere's sumtin' I gotta do. We was gonna leave tonight, but dis… I gotta go do sumtin' bout dis." Xaenus shook his head.

Dalnuya rushed out with the pack and put it by the tunnel. "An where you goin, Xaenus?" she was very worried.

"Tha Darkspear in me can't let Hakkar come back. Ah be goin to that summit ta kill tha serpent an 'is summonah." Xaenus drew two enchanted daggers that he had fetched from the chest inside the house and looked at them both.

"You ain't goin up dere without me." Dalnuya lowered her head in prayer as glowing light appeared around Xaenus and he looked stronger and healthier.

"Momma, what's that?" Xainia looked surprised.

"A prayer, Xainia, ah'll teach ya someday." Dalnuya said quickly.

"You gotta stay 'ere wit Xainia." Xaenus insisted.

"We'll be comin back, so we got nothin' ta worry 'bout." Dalnuya got a mace and a book from the chest in the house.

"Ah don' like this." Xaenus still insisted and then turned to Xainia. "If we don' be back tonight, you go down dere fast. If anybody else come 'ere, you go down dere fastah!"

Xainia nodded and sat on the ledge by the tunnel watching her parents walk off into the city and towards the fire that was now always lit. Hours passed with hardly a noise, the city outside seemed empty. After falling asleep and waking back up several times, Xainia began to get very worried. Xainia had considered going down the tunnel many times already, but she didn't want her family to be left behind. Suddenly the idea entered her head.

"Ah gotta go see if dey comin." She said to herself as she climbed up on the walls with the great agility of a young one.

Each level of the city was easy to get on top of as some of the walls were covered in vines or crumbling. Xainia neared the fire at the summit and hopped down to the hillside on the other side of the wall. She could not risk staying on the wall as it seemed the entire population of the city was jammed up at the summit watching something. As Xainia peered over the wall by the amphitheater, the images she saw and moments that followed burned themselves into her mind forever with searing pain.

"Dese be tha foolish trolls dat stood in our way." A troll in a wooden mask spoke up loudly to the crowd.

Xaenus and Dalnuya were tied and heavily beaten. Near them was the corpse of the winged serpent that had come and all around them were the broken bodies of the high priests and summoners. The troll who had called out approached them.

"Not even Vilebranch, we let ya stay here an ya did dis! Ya killed the bearah of our savior an ya killed tha only trolls who can summon it again." He pulled at the ropes that bound them. "What do ya say for yaself before ya die!"

Xainia's eyes grew wide with terror at the words that her parent's captor spoke. Her parents had to come back; they were supposed to come back.

Xaenus straightened himself up as much as he could, they had broken one of his legs and Dalnuya was unable to heal him fast enough. "Hakkar will nevah come back to dis world! Tha Darkspear tribe won' allow it! You trolls gotta lisen to me! Tha soulflayer brings death, not victory!"

Sneering, the captor hit him hard in the stomach and beckoned several trolls from the crowd. "You be payin for that!" He called the trolls up onto the altar where they were held. "Eat em! Alive!"

Xainia watched in complete terror and helplessness as the crowd cheered and more than ten Vilebranch trolls beset her parents, biting into their still living bodies. If it had not been for the number of trolls blocking her direct view, Xainia's sanity might have been totally shattered. She was only able to see the blood flying and the trolls walking away with hunks of flesh as the crowd closed in and despite their best efforts to die strong, her parents screamed in pain. Holding the sides of her head trying to shake the images from it, Xainia suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream that broke the cheering of the crowd.

"Ey! Deres anothah one up dere!" One of the trolls yelled as several axes flew into the wall below her and to the sides of her.

Realizing that she was next, Xainia ran with all the speed she could muster back towards home, the images had left her as her mind burned with the pure adrenaline that only terror like this could create. The crowd of Vilebranch trolls at the top of the amphitheater tried to follow her, but the crowd was so dense that she easily outran them. She jumped down into the alcove her house was in and grabbed the satchel that her mother had prepared. Jumping into the tunnel she strained at the rock to the side of it. Her injured arm beginning to bleed again, but eventually she blocked most of the hole with the stone slab. Scrabbling with dirt in the tunnel, she blocked up the remainder of the hole and stopped, breathing heavily and sobbing uncontrollably. Voices became audible outside and Xainia stifled her sorrow in fear.

"Dis is whar tha Darkspear lived." A voice, that of the merchant who had seemed tolerant of them before, spoke.

"Fin da little one! Loot tha house! I want mah dessert!" The voice of her parents' executioner joined in with the yells of a crowd that had come to the quiet alcove in which she had spent these fifteen years.

In fear once again, she scampered down the tunnel. Her father's hard work had made it sizeable enough for her to get down it, but it was pitch dark and she had to simply crawl as fast as she could hoping to find the end. Each time she hit a wall, it simply seemed that the tunnel turned sharply and continued. Eventually she hit the end of the tunnel and began clawing at it despite the re-opened wound on her arm. As Xaenus had predicted, she soon fell straight through the end of it onto hard rock below and lost consciousness.


	2. The Horde's discovery

**Chapter 2: ****The**** Horde's Discovery**

Xainia didn't know how many days she laid in the cave. She drifted between consciousness and sleep and slowly ate through the plants that had been hastily thrown into the satchel that she carried. Every waking moment, the images of the night atop Jintha'alor filled her head as she cried uncontrollably and thought of how she might have changed the grim events of that night. In the middle of one of the many winning fantasies she had dreamed up in trying to cope, she heard footsteps. Quickly, she tried to cover herself in dirt. Not finding enough, she curled into a ball and hugged the satchel.

"Zug Zug?" A deep voice issued from somewhere in the cave as the footsteps came closer.

A crackling noise followed the footsteps; it was a torch burning. Not having seen the light in some time, Xainia's vision blurred. Above Xainia a green skinned being with metal armor and a torch stood. Xainia curled up even more, hoping it would leave. Among the babblings of a language she didn't understand, she made out a few words.

"Troll? Blue Troll?" The green skin stooped down and looked at her. "Whatsit?"

Xainia tried to curl up more, hoping to become part of the cave wall in her fantasy. She began to weep in her fear as the torch didn't leave. The green skinned scout called back very loudly out of the cave, almost hurting Xainia's ears since she had not heard anything in a long time.

"Aid!" the being cried in its own tongue. Several more of the being trampled down through the cave with weapons drawn but stowed them as soon as they saw it was only a small woman-troll.

They held a conversation which Xainia could not understand.

"Denir? You needed help for this?" One of the others laughed heartily.

"I don't know what it is, Brog. It look like a troll, but it's blue. It look scared."

"You don't know how to speak troll?" Another in the party asked.

"I'm too young. Remind me again, Drok." Denir glared over.

"Shut up, you two." Brog took a knee in front of the frightened troll and spoke in somewhat broken troll language.

"We orcs. You ca… You come with us. We no hurt." Brog struggled to make basic troll phrases.

Xainia uncurled a bit and looked at them from where her head was hidden in her arms then silently nodded once or twice. She didn't trust them, but it was better than being in the dark cave, so close to the tunnel that she waited for the trolls from Jintha'alor to pour out of.

Turning back to Denir and starting to walk away, Brog issued orders in orcish. "Pick her up and take her to the fire. We gonna find who she is and why she's blue."

Denir took ahold of Xainia and put her over his shoulder, she hung there limply. It took a good twenty minutes of walking past outposts and down long winding paths to get out of the cave; she was in one of the deepest corners. When they emerged, it was evening. Xainia saw the red tint of the sky and shivered at the reminder of the last night she had seen like that. Depositing her by the large central fire in the camp, Denir sat down with the other orcs. Xainia scrambled back against a wagon that was pulled up near the fire and curled up again. The other orcs looked at her then looked at Denir.

"Who she?" One of them spoke in orcish.

"I dunno; we find her in the cave. She look like a troll." Denir replied

"But she's blue." The other continued.

"Tell me something I don't know." Denir shook his head.

"The Warchief is rallying the horde" One at the fire spoke.

"What? Now?" Denir stood up in disbelief.

"Yeah, a warcaller just came through when you were in the cave."

"I gotta go tell Brog. Nobody touches the troll until we get someone who can talk to it." Denir got up and ran back into the cave.

The other orcs looked at Xainia and she looked back out at them from her safe spot by the wagon. Eyes still full of tears, she ignored them and went back to dreaming. Later on, Brog returned with Denir and the warcaller.

"Pack up camp now. The horde is on the move." Brog ordered as others from the cave re-entered the camp and helped pack up.

As the orcs began to pack and take tents down quickly, Brog approached Xainia.

"You get in wagon." He said in troll.

The warcaller looked strangely at Brog. "You're taking a troll with you? A blue one at that?" He asked in orcish.

"I'm not gonna leave it here. I wanna know why it's blue." Brog answered resolutely in orcish.

"You… Get in wagon!" Brog repeated in troll since Xainia had not moved.

Xainia continued to sit there curled up, lost in some dream. Brog became frustrated and picked her up over his head, putting her in the wagon. Immediately, Xainia scrambled against the inner back corner of the wagon and curled up again.

"What happened to it for it to act like that?" The warcaller looked to Brog.

"That's what I'm gonna find out." Brog walked over to one of the female orcs who was packing up a tent.

"Okquina, you speak troll. Go protect troll in the wagon." Brog ordered.

"There's a troll in the wagon?" Okquina looked at Brog oddly then went and climbed into the wagon.

Not trying to engage Xainia in conversation, she just sat there and looked at the distraught troll while the camp packed up. Following the warcaller's guidance, the wagon soon began to move for the shore. Okquina stayed in the wagon with Xainia for the long journey, unsure whether she was asleep or just unresponsive. It was a sight to watch her as she drifted between sleeping and crying. Finally, the wagons came to a halt. Xainia peered out of the back of the wagon curiously and saw a great many orcs assembled outside. Okquina closed the flap on the back of the wagon so that Xainia wouldn't get bothered by any of them. The new horde had no trolls in it and the warchief, Thrall, hated forest trolls. Although she was blue, Xainia was still a troll.

An orc outside announced loudly. "Warchief, the horde is assembled!"

Xainia couldn't understand what it meant nor could she understand the conversation that followed, but soon the wagon began to move again. It rolled up a slope and then the ground was no longer solid, it rocked back and forth.

"We are on a boat." Okquina took the opportunity to say something in troll to Xainia.

Xainia nodded and kept herself curled up as orcs circled the wagon and tied it to the deck. The ships set sail heading west, Xainia could see the sunset out the front entrance of the wagon whenever she looked up. Pulling some now groady looking vegetables out of her satchel, Xainia began to eat. Okquina saw that the food had obviously gone bad and came over, taking the satchel and food from Xainia. Losing her satchel, an object she had used for feeding, security, and even remembering her parents, disturbed her greatly. The young troll started crying loudly and curled up even more. In a timely and efficient manner, Okquina hopped out of the wagon and cast the bag aside.

"What noise in the wagon?" One of the deckhands asked Okquina.

"Ignore it. Go get me food from galley. I have your post." Okquina stood outside the wagon waiting for the other orc to return.

After the orc retook his post, Okquina brought in a bowl of soup and some bread into the wagon and set them in front of Xainia. The troll had since quieted down and had started rocking back and forth.

"Eat this." Okquina pushed the soup and bread towards her.

Xainia looked untrustingly out of her position at Okquina; she didn't want to eat, but the food smelled so good to her. She picked up the bowl and sniffed it, stifling out two words. "No troll?"

Okquina looked at her strangely and replied. "There's no troll in the soup. We don't eat trolls."

Xainia slowly started eating, this food tasted better than any she had ever had; of course anything tasted better than leathery bland wolf steaks. The new food even made her forget her sadness while eating it, but as soon as the bowl was dry her eyes were wet again with tears. She stifled out a few more words before continuing her crying. "Thank you."

Perplexed at the troll's behavior still, Okquina came closer to the small troll and held her; her motherly instincts brought forth by the crying young one. Xainia let the orc hold her, not caring what was going on around her. Eventually she found her arms around the comforting warmth that Okquina provided, wondering why the orc was doing this.

"You'll be ok. Sleep now." Okquina smiled and let the small troll rest against her.

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Later in the night a male orc with a wolf-skin mask entered the wagon and sat across from them. Xainia was asleep while Okquina continued to stay by her; the new presence woke her up and she crawled away from Okquina and curled up against the back of the wagon again.

"Okquina, Brog sent me here to try and see what the story of this troll is." The new orc spoke in his native tongue.

"She won't tell you, she doesn't talk." Okquina asserted, also speaking in orcish.

"I don't plan on requiring her to talk." The orc removed some items from his bags.

"What's your name anyway?" Okquina asked.

"I am Hasur, one of the shamans of the warchief." He lit some herbs aflame in a small dish, giving a strange smell to the air in the wagon. "I've been gifted with the ability to commune with the spirits. This troll is upset and the spirits gather close to her in sorrow and pity. I must learn from them."

Xainia recoiled a bit at the smell and Okquina whispered to her. "Rest, he won't hurt you."

Beginning one of his rites, Hasur raised his arms in the air and called out. "Spirits of the elements, your power is ever present in this world! Your spirits and essence watch our every move! I ask of you humbly, show me the pains of this troll!"

The air in the wagon filled with a strange light as the spirits answered the call of the shaman. Hasur's vision went black as he saw the city of Jintha'alor from the sky in his meditation. Suddenly, his mind seared as Xainia's had. The memories of the troll hit him at a rate almost faster than he could comprehend. shook visibly as it hit him so quickly. His nose began to bleed slightly and his eyes filled with tears as the glowing ceased and the spirits left him. Breathing heavily, he regained himself and sat thinking for some time.

Finally speaking to Okquina, Hasur took a concerned tone. "Can you leave her for a moment? We need to speak to Brog."

"I suppose." Okquina pulled a blanket over Xainia and stepped out of the wagon into the cool ocean night. Hasur quickly fetched Brog and brought him back to outside the wagon.

"So whats with the troll?" Brog asked them.

"She is still acting strange, but I was able to get her to eat." Okquina spoke up.

"Have you figured out why, Hasur?" Brog questioned further.

"Yes, the spirits showed me why she is broken." His eyes almost began to tear up again. "I can't express it all to you; it's far too painful. I will say what is important.

"Go on, it must be quite a tale to have your looking like this, Hasur" Brog sat down on a barrel near them.

"Her name is Xainia." Hasur relayed to them that she wasn't a forest troll, but a troll of the 'Darkspear' tribe. Almost as if he had been there, Hasur spoke of how the Vilebranch trolls sought to create the egg of Hakkar and how she had been attacked then witnessed her parents cannibalized alive when they fought the summoners. "I am assuming that the place you found her in, Brog, was where she fell out of her escape tunnel."

"Well, I guess the warchief might not be against her since she's not a forest troll. I don't see what to do with her, though." Brog was confused and still thinking over all he had heard.

"Okquina seems to be trusted by the troll." Hasur brought up.

Brog turned to Okquina. "Good then, take her into one of the rooms below and keep her there, Okquina. You will be her guardian."

"Wait a minute, I get her to eat and now I'm her guardian?" Okquina was surprised.

"I can't have us dragging around a helpless troll everywhere with the grunts. You stay at the base camps with her once we get to this new land that the warchief tells us about." Brog ordered. "Good luck."

With that, Brog went on to his duties and Hasur turned to Okquina. "You'd probably do better to not show what you know about her. She might not want anyone to know."

"I was guessin' that." Okquina went back inside the wagon.

Xainia was still asleep, curled up under the blanket that Okquina had given her. Even though she was sleeping, the tears still ran down her face. Although she was still a young troll, she was still rather heavy for Okquina to carry. Hardly waking at being moved, Xainia held herself against her guardian. They quickly descended into the ship and went into one of the empty rooms that would have been officer quarters for the alliance. Okquina laid Xainia on one of the hammocks in the room and sat down in a chair, sharpening her weapons, as the ship sailed on to the west.

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The monotony of the sea quickly bored many of the orcs on the ship. Okquina ended up being one of the only orcs with something to do; take care of a young troll. Xainia laid in the hammock all day with blankets over her, physically she was healed but mentally she was still torn. The only time the tears stopped was when she ate. Although the food was just simple ships rations, it was marvelous Xainia. Eventually, she was able to get Xainia to walk around the cabin a bit, but the actions always seemed forced and automatic; her mind was elsewhere.

Soon the seas became stormy and the storms never ceased. Above, orcs scrambled to keep the ship afloat as the great swirling maelstrom that they had sailed into assailed the fleet. Xainia had begun to understand enough orcish to know that things were wrong, she kept curled up in her hammock, half hoping that she would die from the storms, and half hoping that she would just be safe. While Okquina saw just an empty room, Xainia's vision was much more plagued.

"You gonna pay for dat tusk!" The troll who had bitten her stood constant in her vision, ethereal and unreal but still scaring her.

"Hey you, go eat her." The troll in the wooden mask floated there too, not shaken by the ship moving.

The broken tusked troll dove for her always and she would see herself being chewed on, but then she would make the slightest movement and the visions would restart on her. These hallucinations drowned out the sound of the mainmast snapping above her head as the ship continued to toss and turn. Xainia was tossed from the hammock, through her hallucinations. Scrambling to get away from them she hid in the corner of the room. Okquina had been called away to help topside and so the young troll was left with only her visions for some time. Then, almost as suddenly as they had begun, the storms around the fleet halted.

An orc called loudly from his post atop one of the still standing masts. "Brog! We've sighted land. The Warchief's ship is sailing for it!"

"Well, follow them!" Brog called back as he ran about the ravaged deck issuing orders to the grunts manning the remaining sails.

The ships moored themselves off of the tropical islands as close into shore as they could come. The order soon came to repair the ships completely before continuing.

"Xainia, come with me. We going on ground." Okquina returned to the room to find Xainia crying and huddled in the corner.

Seeing someone else drove the visions away for a moment, so Xainia quickly rose and followed the orc, carrying the blanket she had used on the ship with her. While heading to the newly built bonfire outside, Xainia looked at no one, she draped the blanket around herself like a hood and stayed close to the only source of comfort she had known in these horrible times, Okquina. It seemed that they had moored near a village of some sort.

"Darkspear? Wha you talkin' bout mon?" A voice spoke clearly in troll. Xainia feared it; it must be one of her hallucinations.

"Okquina, is that her?" Brog yelled over in orcish.

"Yes, but what…" Okquina paused at the sight of who Brog was talking to.

Brog came over with his companion. "Well we can't see if there's a blanket over her head." He complained to Okquina.

Xainia scrambled to pull the blanket back up out of instinct as Okquina pulled it away, but then she saw what was in front of her. Before her a male troll of her color holding two spears stood. Unsure of whether she should be afraid or not and unable to feel joy, she just stared blankly at the troll.

"This is Ur'denai, one of the Darkspear trolls. This island is their home." Brog informed Okquina.

"Ya, she Darkspear. Wha she doin wit you?" The troll looked Xainia over and informed them.

Peeking to the left and right sides of him, she suddenly noticed many Darkspear trolls all over the area helping to repair the ships. Knowing that she could have lived out here with her parents but not considering the reasons why they were stuck in Jintha'alor, Xainia cried again and sank down to the ground, pulling the blanket over herself again.

"Why she sad? She home." The troll looked at them.

Okquina answered the troll's question. "We tell you later. We've got work to do."


	3. The Binding

**Chapter 3: The Binding**

_"After ages of waiting to return, I found myself called to these shores. Perhaps it was guiding me… I feel there is something I must do. What force could bring me here, what force could cause me not to search for her to the end of my days? I have a strong will, I always have. Does it call me to one whose will is lacking? My body lacks the heart to help another, but my mind still strives for such a… human… action." A mysterious voice spoke from a member of a group of three, speaking in a house in the relatively new city of __Orgrimmar_

_"There is only one whom I know whose languor could call aid from across worlds." Another of the three brought up._

_A third voice chimed in, supporting the second. "It must be. I could see no greater calling. Though the call is steeped in shadow, perhaps the nobility of your spirit twists it to something beyond a greed for domination. Go… we have told you where. Best of luck to you, we will be watching."_

--------------

After that day on the beach, Xainia's life changed little. She had found the Darkspear tribe from which she came, but the peace she could experience was hollow to her. Every face of a Darkspear that she saw reminded her in some way of her parents. Soon, the horde had engaged humans and then murlocs on the islands that the Darkspear tribe called home. Barely escaping as the island was assaulted by storms, Xainia stayed with Okquina instead of with the members of her tribe that remained on the island. Always hiding herself in one of the wagons, Xainia lost herself in her fantasies and visions as the horde moved on to fight against more humans and eventually the demons of the Burning Legion. Lost as she was, Xainia became able to take care of herself at the base camps.

The once cheerful attitude she held was replaced by a mute and automatic way of living. Five years passed slowly as the city of Orgrimmar was born and the land of Durotar founded. Xainia took up living in Durotar atop the craggy outcroppings that covered the valleys of the region. The only thing that she did, aside from staying barely alive, was watch the sunset. To her, each setting marked another day closer to the day when she would once again be with her parents.

None who approached her could gain any response, even when Okquina or another troll came to visit, she ignored them. The visions that plagued Xainia kept telling her that all of the visitors didn't really care about her. This troll, now twenty, couldn't have seemed older or more tired of living. Sometimes, however, change comes from where it shouldn't. Hope originates from those without hope, and new life from those without life.

"Ya let dem eat us!" A particularly horrid vision of Xainia's mother and father, chewed to the bone in some places, plagued her as she watched the sun go down.

"Ya, dis young one too weak ta stop us." The familiar phantasm of the troll in a wooden mask paced around Xainia as she cried.

"No… No… It happen too fast fa me ta help. I couldn' help." Xainia thought and shook her head.

"Ya coulda jumped down an saved us." The ragged phantasms tormented.

"We died ta stop Hakkar! We knew we wouldn' come back. Why you still alive?" The voices got louder as Xainia's head spun.

The sound of footsteps came from near Xainia's hut. Instinctively, she crawled inside with the visions following her until the sound faded. From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure in a robe walking away from the dwelling. Believing it gone, she crawled back outside and sat down to watch the sunset more.

"See. Ya hide for everating! Ya'd be better off dead." The voices picked back up.

Suddenly, from a distance too close for her to run and hide, she felt a presence and heard light footsteps. Whatever had come evidently tricked her into thinking it had left. Committing herself to ignore it, she continued to watch the sunset. The other being sat down beside Xainia and also looked out at the sunset. Eventually, Xainia slowly glanced over. Eyes wide with terror, she backed up a few feet quickly. The being beside her had white and grey skin, green hair, and exposed elbow bones; it was an undead. Xainia had heard passers by speaking of the undead, the plague, and the horde's strange alliance with them from inside her hovel. It seemed only after that idea entered her head that the horrible cannibalized visions of her parents appeared to her.

"Do not fear me. I mean you no harm." The undead looked over at the very frightened troll. He spoke in orcish, which Xainia came to understand at the base camps during the third war.

Seeing the undead fully intrigued her instead of frightening her. The undead was male and had two horns that seemed to spring forth from his forehead. The rest of his ornately patterned and colored clothes shined with strange enchantments.

"Do you have a name?" He continued to speak to her.

Xainia was still rather frightened of the undead, but this interaction drove the phantasms from her mind so she moved closer.

Removing some food and drink from a satchel, the undead offered them to her. "You look hungry. Eat."

Not having had much aside from scorpids in the past few weeks, Xainia took the food from the undead and began to eat it. Standing for a moment, the undead removed a pink shard from a pouch on his belt and weaved strange runes with his hands. Before Xainia, a strange dog-like beast with red scaly skin, horns, dark black hair, and two strange tendrils above its head appeared. Xainia froze at its appearance, but the beast moved closer and nudged Xainia playfully.

"He likes you." The summoner commented. "Won't you pet him?"

Cautiously, Xainia ran her hand over the hairs on the beast's back. In response, it laid down beside her. Having too many questions for this new acquaintance, Xainia was moved to break the silence she had held for so long. Her voice was very shaky at first from disuse.

"W…Wat is it?" She looked at the strange animal beside her.

"It is a Felhunter. This one is named Khuufen." He petted the beast.

The next question came quickly. "Who are ya? Why ya here?" Xainia said in between bites of food.

"My name is of no consequence. I think the more important question is: Why are you here? I have seen this hut many times in passing and never known why a troll lives out here in the wilderness." The undead took time to form his question, as if he was hiding his true reasons for appearing.

Xainia sat, not wanting to answer him. She hadn't thought why she avoided others. "Ah… ah don' wan ta be a trouble." She finally spoke.

"You mean you don't wish to impose?"

"Ya." Xainia looked back.

"You never said your name by the way." The undead questioned her again.

"Xainia." The young troll searched for something that could re-assure her.

Continuing the questions, The warlock probed further. "Now, why are you here?"

"Because ah live 'ere." Xainia answered shortly, between bites of food, not wanting to let go of any information to the strange creature.

"Not living out here in the wilderness, but here; in this world." The troll's inquisitor continued.

Xainia sat for a while, deep in thought and on the verge of crying again. "Why are ya askin me dat?" she sobbed.

Keeping an interest in Xainia's behavior, the undead continued to pressure the young troll. "I wish to know. You interest me."

"Well ah don' know." Xainia answered curtly.

"That's not much of an answer. There must be some reason you haven't starved out here. I mean, with the loss of your parents and the great journey you made… you must have endured for some reason."

Xainia looked at the undead incredulously, her horrible memories stirred by his words. "How you know dat!" her eyes filled with tears. "Nobody know dat!"

"You know that." The undead responded quickly.

"Ah am nobody." Xainia sobbed.

Continuing to play off her words, the undead already had an answer. "I thought you were Xainia."

After sobbing for a while, Xainia looked at him. "So ya know about mah parents… mah visions. Ah'm no good. Ah shoulda died dat night wit mah parents. Even when ah don' tink about dem, tha tears just come." She openly cried in front of the undead.

"And yet, you do nothing to avenge them, young troll. Your parents died protecting you and trying to stop Hakkar. Having seen a mortal life and now this life, I have seen that dwelling on something only wastes time." The undead knew much about Xainia's past, which astounded her more.

"But… ah couldn't do anythin! Ah couldn't!" she grabbed her head and shook it like when she saw her parents die.

"And you still can't? Even though you now have a horde of allies who would rush to your aid to stop Hakkar and his servants, you still see nothing you can do!"

"Ah can't. Ah just need ta wait ta die and ah can be wit mah parents." Xainia was hot in the face with tears.

"That would not save you from your suffering." The undead looked at her. "Death is now only the beginning in this world."

Xainia lied back on the ground hopelessly. "Den tha visions never go away?"

"I knew of your parents, but not your visions. I could only guess that they are from your guilt."

Turning to the side and petting the felhunter again, the young troll sighed. "Ah guess dey are. Ya know mah momma was a priest? She coulda stopped da visions. Ah got nahtin left." Upon mentioning her mother again, Xainia teared up once more.

There is… one thing left." Maldelic continued the conversation, having made his descision.

"Wha dat be?" Xainia still laid to the side in a dejected manner.

"Hope." The undead held forth the idea for her. "There is the hope that perhaps you could overcome." The undead smiled for a moment and stood up. "So why don't you?"

"Dun ah wat?" Xainia looked up at the undead.

Sitting there in silence, the undead waited for Xainia to think on what had been said.

Looking uplifted for the first time in a great while, she finally spoke.

"Maybe ah could be a priest. Ah could become strong here an go back ta stop Hakkar. Ah could stop da Vilebranch too. Ah could stop mah visions mahself! Maybe ah could stop waitin an live." Xainia stood up, towering over the undead in height. Suddenly her head hung low again. "But ah don' know how ta start or how ta go."

"That's it! That's what I can do for you! Can you feel the fire rising? I could show you the way to use it. I can guide you and protect you, as I haven't done for anyone since before my death." The undead grinned, getting quite excited as he reminisced to himself about his human life. "We will find a way for you to become strong without returning to the east."

"We could?" Xainia dried her eyes off.

"Yes, together it could be done. With my guidance, I am sure of it."

"Wat must ah do?" Xainia came closer to him.

His grin widening more, the undead continued to speak. "You will be bound to me. I will train you and guide you in this new world that I have explored so widely. You must do this of your own free will; I will not force you into it."

"Ah am Darkspear!" Xainia embraced the will of her people as her father had. "Ah will do anythin to stop Hakkar an avenge mah parents."

The undead drew a piece of chalk and a stone from the pouch on his belt, making a descision to himself. "Good. Stand where you are and do not move."

Xainia stood obediently as the undead worked quickly, drawing symbols and runes around her on the ground while whispering in a demonic sounding tongue. The strange crystal seemed to guide the actions of the undead. The felhunter howled at the ceremony taking place as the undead stood back up and took a place a few feet away.

"Are you prepared, young Xainia?"

"Ah am." The troll stood, finally having some hope in her life.

The undead held the stone in his hand as he weaved purple and blue symbols in the air. The night around them lit up with the energies he channeled around them both. With a sudden blast, the stone in his hand turned a deep shade of blue and energy flew outwards from the area, destroying Xainia's hut. When it cleared, Xainia was covered in twisting deep blue tattoo-like symbols. The symbols quickly faded to her normal skin color, becoming invisible. Her mind was silent for once, the tormenting voices she had heard for years driven from it.

Without speaking, the undead looked at her and she heard his voice echo through her head. "Now, you will go to the Valley of Trials. The Valley of Trials is south of here and west of the Sen'jin village, occupied by your people. You will train in the ways of a shadow priest. When you are strong enough, you will find a group of our kind known as the Obsidian Guards. They will be able to help you in your journies, but not in the ways that I can."

"Yes sah, my… Mastah." Xainia called out as she turned and ran for the valley with all haste.

She felt the fire that the undead had described. It was at that moment that she knew Hakkar would die by her hand and her parents would truly be avenged. She would no longer slink to the grave to meet them, but run full force doing everything that they had been unable to accomplish so that she could meet them and tell them that their deaths were not in vain.


	4. Descent into Shadow

**Chapter 4: Descent into Shadow**

Many days had passed since Xainia had begun her journey as a priest. The voice of her master always filled her head. Through her adventures, Xainia had traveled the Barrens, Ashenvale forest, the Thousand Needles, the Stonetalon mountains, but never the east. She avoided the dark continent of Lordaeron; a place of fear and memory. Xainia was committed to destroying Hakkar, but she would not go near her past until she was strong enough. Now adventuring from Shadowprey village, a great turning point in Xainia's life was coming about.

"You seem troubled, child." The dark voice of Xainia's unnamed master echoed in her head.

"Ah dun know why ah am helpin' these dirty centahs." Xainia thought in return as she removed several silver pieces from a recent kill made to gain the favor of one tribe or another.

Her master, although strict, was concerned for her. It was uncommon for an undead to show such fostering. Despite this caring, Xainia still did not know her master's name; it was not her privilege to know such things.

"You would rather be in Arathi then?"

Xainia paused and shook for a moment. She knew how close it was to Jintha'alor. "N..no."

"As I thought. Now, you will go to the north, the Valley of Spears. You must prove your strength in the shadow to me. You will have thirty minutes to kill every centaur in the valley."

"But some a dem be really strong, ah've tried dis before, ah just can't go fast enough."

"Then you must learn to move faster. You may not continue until you can do this."

"Yes, masta" Xaina thought of the drudgery of it.

Running up on her raptor as she had many times before, Xaina dismounted infront of the southern entrance to the valley. Staring tiredly at the centaurs in front of her, she saw them look back with the same tired out look. By this time, they did not approach her unless she came near to them first and posed a threat. It was fear perhaps that kept them away from her, but to her she was just going through the motions that her master commanded. Xainia put a hand guard on and looked at it for a moment. The master had given her this device to "allow her to wield the shadows". It made her feel like she was just using these skills she learned; she did not feel any flow of power within her.

"Dirta Horsemen." Xainia commented as she ran up and began attacking them.

Shadow power flowed forth from the hand guard as Xainia called forth the different spells that the priests had taught her. Sometimes she would use holy spells along with them, but her master always preferred her to channel the shadow. Centaur after centaur fell before her, almost never touching her through various shields. Soon she was on the western entrance of the valley, sitting down and breathing heavily.

"Good, my child. You have performed well." Her master's thoughts reached her.

"Ah dun know what dat was gonna prove." Xainia was fed up with killing these centaurs and with traveling through this grey desolate land they dwelled in.

"You have no need to know. You only need to do it." The voice returned somewhat arrogantly to her. "Now. Travel south to the goblin city of Gadgetzan. Many missions await you there."

Sighing at having to travel so far once more, Xainia called forth her raptor and headed for the seedy city in the sands. Having been there a few times to see the local alchemist, she was able to ride through the air to reach it. This time the alchemist directed her to speak with someone else in the city, a surveyor.

"Time is money, friend." The short goblin greeted her as she walked up a small hillock in the city to see him.

"Da alchemist said ta see ya. What ya be havin for me ta do?"

"Oh. Well this is pretty important. A lot lies at stake here, so listen carefully! We're losing a lot of water to these bandits throughout the desert, I need you to go over to Sandsorrow Watch and gather some water for me to see if it's usable. Hurry up now!" The goblin shoved an empty flask into her hands and turned back to his surveying instruments.

"Ok… so ah guess ah'll do it." Xainia said half sarcastic and half bewildered that the goblin would just expect her to accept like this.

Xainia stopped by the local inn for a moment and then walked out of the city, looking to her master for advice.

"Wha's out dere?" she thought.

"Trolls. Not friendly ones either." Her master returned solemnly.

Xainia stopped dead in her tracks. "Do Ah gotta go?"

Dealing with other trolls was something Xainia had a hard time handling. Darkspears were fine, but the other tribes she still did not trust whatsoever. Now that she knew these trolls were not friendly, it brought back the most horrible memories.

"You will go. It is possible to avoid them." Her master commanded.

Heading west with a wide loop to the south away from any structures, Xainia headed towards Sandsorrow Watch. As she looped around to the south, she caught sight of some of the trolls in the distance. They had strange colored skin and fire-colored hair; the Sandfury tribe. Known for their worshipping of strange old deities and for savagery, Xainia wished to avoid them, complete her mission, and return to Gadgetzan as soon as possible. Quickly heading to a nearby pool of water, she dipped the vessel in, filled it, and capped it.

"Scrrrrrrreeeeeegggggggchhh" A high pitched noise split the air as she stepped away.

Xainia turned back and saw two very large bugs charging out of the water at her. Quickly raising her shield, she didn't put her glove on and simply called down the forces of the holy light to destroy them. The bugs fell somewhat easily, but left Xainia shaken nonetheless. She looked around and then took the shell off of one of them, hoping it would fetch a price somewhere. Xainia was ready to return to the town, but it seemed that not everyone had the same plans for her.

"You not supposed to be 'ere." A deep voice spoke from behind her. Before Xainia could react, the butt of an axe hit her upside the head and knocked her out.

Having been knocked out so harshly, Xainia's mind swam in a sea of fear and memory. Trolls were the oldest most enduring mortal race, and yet they were able to exhibit such terror and pain upon each other. Their ability to hate and destroy each other while enduring as a race matched only that of the elf races which grew from the same root as they did. The voices of the spirits that once troubled her danced around her prone form in her mind.

"You be doomed now! Finally out of da safety wit da orcs!"

"You musta got hit by a Sandfury. Ya know dey worship Hakkar too, ya failed us." A now almost skeletal troll visage plagued her.

Other voices mixed in with the spirits, ones that sounded new; her captors.

"You keep an eye on 'er."

"Wha? I dun get ta roll on da fun?"

"Ya be too young." A deeper troll voice returned.

Xainia slowly awoke; it was nighttime now. Nearby she saw three male Sandfury trolls arguing nearby her.

"Wazzat matter? She's young too."

One of the two older trolls hit the young one that just spoke.

"Know ya place welp. Watch er."

The younger troll slunked over then noticed Xainia was awake and called back.

"Ey, she be awake mon, whatcha wan me do?" He readied a stone to knock her out again.

"Jus keep her there. We gonna decide soon. It be more fun if she awake." The deeper voiced troll called back.

The young troll drew his sword and held it close to Xainia's neck. "You dun be movin till da othas get back."

Xainia began to regain her senses, still deeply depressed by the visions that had just come to her. She knew her holy power was not enough to kill these three, but her hand guard was just in her bag if she could only reach into it without alerting this troll.

Had it been that simple, she would have escaped no doubt. She looked over at the other two and saw one of them holding her hand guard and a few other possessions in his dirty claws; there was no escape for her now. Starting to tear up, Xainia just stared on at the other two trolls.

"Roll dem bones, mon" The other older troll spoke up.

"Ah done more than ya. Ah shouldn't have to do dat. Besides, ah captured her." The deeper voiced troll argued.

"But Ah spotted her. She's nothin special, doin tings only work for really rare stuff."

"Fine." The deep voiced troll pulled out some crude dice and rolled them out on a piece of wood that the two had on the ground between them. "Thirta five"

The other troll grinned and rolled his on the same board. "A hundred. Ah win!"

Looking suspiciously at his compatriot, the deep voiced troll looked closely at the dice. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with anger. "Dese be cockeyed! Ya lousy cheat!" The deep voiced troll picked up the rolling board and bashed the cheating troll upside the head with it.

"Ah no be cheatin, ya gave me dose dice yestaday!" the other troll spoke groggily as he drew his weapons and charged the deep voiced troll.

"Noboda calls me ah cheat!" The two trolls said almost in unison as they began wrestling and fighting each other.

By this time, Xainia had figured out what they were planning to do. They were rolling over her. This filled her with fear beyond the worst dread; she curled up and tried to shy away from the knife that was held ever close to her throat. The younger troll looked at the two fighting each other and grinned.

"Dey be fools. Dose be mah dice."

Casting aside the sword, he grasped Xainia's neck. Stripping off some pieces of his armor, the troll continued to grin luridly at her. Xainia was almost in shock from the horror flowing through her mind. She hated that she had come out here, she hated that she had been captured, but most of all she hated these trolls and anyone who would act like them.

"It be mah turn ta get what ah want!" The young troll grabbed Xainia in a very violating way.

The fear and hate poured through Xainia's body as the young troll closed in. The visions around her disappeared as something within her snapped. She felt time frozen around her as she saw no longer what was going on, just herself surrounded by blackness.

"Masta… Masta where are ya?" She said in a bewildered fashion.

"I am here, my child." The image of her master appeared from the blackness.

"Why, Why dis be happening?"

"Unexplainable things happen. You must find the power to overcome them." The master replied.

"Ah can't stop dem. Ah got no powa."

"You have proven your power before. Though I felt no shadow with in you when you became my student, there is something different now. I do not know how this will affect you. For once, as your master, I do not know. You must use the guilt you've felt, the hatred of yourself and of your captors. To use the power of ourselves, the power to overcome all obstacles and accomplish a goal, is shadow. You must control it… if you do not control it, it will control you. Quickly!" The image faded back into the blackness.

Xainia was awoken back into the time stream as the young troll tore a sleeve off of her robe and grabbed her arm. He grabbed it just in the place she had been bitten so many years ago. In her state of shock, the plaguing spirit of the one-tusked troll appeared to lean out of her captor, grinning and gnashing its teeth. Suddenly, as she stared at the spirit, it began to burn away infront of her as the power to escape surged within her.

"No… No. Nah now! Nevah in dis lifetime!" Xainia said and suddenly let loose a bloodcurdling scream that echoed through her mind and the young troll's mind too.

Jumping off of her and beginning to flee in terror, the young troll tried to regain himself. Xainia felt the power flowing through her and she stared at her captor with eyes full of scorn and hate. Looking at her arms, Xainia saw them fade into flames of violet and dark blue while they became partly translucent. Her very vision changed; the sands appeared the same violet and blue shades as the ethereal flames raged across her without burning her. The troll began to return towards her, over his fear, but he was not ready for what the young priestess had in store for him.

"Ya gonna die now." She said very simply.

The young troll was about to laugh when he felt the most massive headache he ever had felt, it was as if his mind was being blasted to pieces by something.

"Pain!" Xainia whispered in a dark voice as the young troll in front of her began to feel cramps and pinpricks all across his body.

Already looking very beat up, the young troll coughed out among cries of pain. "What you be?"

"Ah be Xainia, Ah am da one who be killin ya now."

Xainia reached out her hands and beams of blue burning energy shot from them to hit the young troll in the head. The skin began to crackle and boil on his face as he screamed in agony. Slowly the tissue and muscle dripped off of his face, his eyeballs turned to cinders, and he collapsed on the ground dead.

Distracted from their fighting by this sudden outburst, the other two trolls stared at their comrade and at each other. They were already badly injured from fighting. Xainia didn't even drop pace after downing the young troll before she was among them whispering words of pain and wreaking havoc on their minds. Falling even faster than the young troll, the other two collapsed in death. Feeling stronger from obliterating them, Xainia looked around for more of these horrible trolls to destroy.

The laughing voice of her master echoed in her mind. "Ahahaha. Good. You feel the power! You felt it as I once did, on the banks of a river in a frozen land. You have chosen it, you have chosen to rise up and be strong."

Xainia ran to the nearest group, still enveloped by the shadow, and began to lay into them, easily felling them in her revenge. In nearly no time, the camps were clear, dominated by the Xainia's newfound strength. Calmly and coolly, feeling no remorse in the shadow, Xainia walked out of Sandsorrow Watch and headed towards Gadgetzan. Slowly, she regained her normal form as the bloodlust faded from her mind. Checking herself for injuries, Xainia kept walking. She had lost the hand guard from her master, but she no longer needed it. The power of shadow ran through her body. Pausing for a moment she thought of her past actions.

"Do you regret your actions?" Her master questioned.

Xainia thought for a moment, she had found the power to overcome those who would harm her and more importantly to attack the visions that had once plagued her. She had slain many that night, but she felt no remorse for them. They had been evil and she had repaid them tenfold.

"No." She decided.

"Good. We will continue with controlling the shadow. It will take time, but you may use the shadow as you please." Her master stated simply as Xainia walked slowly on into the cool desert night.


	5. Of Felwood and Friends

**Chapter 5: Of ****Felwood**** and Friends**

"Satyrs. Ah dun like em at all." Xainia thought as she walked around in the northern regions of Felwood. "Wha elves cause sah manah bad tings tah happen tah dis world?"

The shadow priestess' power had grown immensely since the night that the shadow awoke within her in the desert. Instead of needing the hand brace that the master had sent her, Xainia covered her being in the shadows and destroyed all who stood in her path. It was almost like a drug, a release from the pains of living that she had once had. All of the years of self pity and mourning poured forth through Xania's hands as she smote her enemies.

The voice of the girl's master spoke less and less as she grew in power. The instructions that he had once given stopped in favor of imparting wisdom and advice. Ever since the shadow had awoken, Xainia remembered the words that her master had spoken about the shadow; "You must control it… if you do not control it, it will control you". Xainia pridefully believed herself in full control of her powers; she could shift in and out of the shadows whenever she wished. Despite this belief, she found it easier to be in the shadows; so much that she believed that she couldn't hurt anything when she was not immersed in the shadows. Shadowform had become a one for one replacement to the hand brace that the troll had worn.

Sensing someone nearby, Xainia moved off of the path and left the shadows for a moment. The power of shadow was still one that Xainia was embarrassed to display to the world. The hoofbeat of a horse became audible, making Xainia ill at ease; it could be a human. Thankfully, as the horse came into view, Xainia saw that it was on fire and the rider was a female undead. At about the same time that she noticed the race of the rider, Xainia realized how she had sensed the presence of the being; it was the shadow. The rider was either a warlock or another shadow priest. Untrusting of any warlock except her master, Xainia walked out onto the path warily, trying to spy the tabard that the warlock wore.

The warlock seemed to keep her head at a perpetual tilt; it was unclear if she was listening to her demonic mount or the dying sounds of Felwood about her. Dressed in necromantic finery, the warlock rode side-saddle. Her posture was something divine; her ankles were locked together beneath her skirts and her claws gripped the reins even as the animal cantered nervously. If it weren't for her spaulders and the decidedly feral sneer that was perpetually upon her face, she would have seemed a young Stormwind belle.

While the land was alien from the ravages of the Legion, the Undead seemed content enough in it. Not concerned with other adventurers, the undead only noticed Xainia because she was in the dreadsteed's way. Snorting the slightest amount of fire, the demonic horse tossed its head from the right to the left as the woman opened her strange translucent unblinking eyes to stare at Xainia.

Spotting the warlock's tabard, Xainia realized that they belonged to a common organization. As her master had told her when she began to train, Xainia had found and joined the Obsidian Guards. To this point, the troll had only loose affiliations as the guild was based in Brill and she would not even board the zeppelin to the Eastern Kingdoms of Azeroth.

Walking forwards enough for her tabard to be visible, Xainia tried to muster a greeting for the stranger. "Hiya."

The warlock sniffed once, delicately. It was neither predatory nor haughty. "Hello." Her voice was clipped and northern, unused to the Gutterspeak.

If Xainia had been experienced enough, or human, she would have recognized the accent as one native to Dalaran and the surrounding areas. The greeting dripped as much sarcasm as one word could, showing that the warlock was not impressed by what she saw; even the tabard didn't seem to matter to her in the slightest. The undead's motivations of joining the Guard had been purely selfish and even that affection was waning. Only the aspect of having someone or something familiar in the world kept her with the guild.

"Are yah here tah kill dah satyrs alsah?" The troll questioned, trying as best she could to start a conversation. A conversation without the connection she felt to her master was difficult for her to maintain.

Appearing to think on this, the warlock rolled her eyes as much as she rolled the word off her tongue. "No." She leaned her side against the dreadsteeds neck, the armor not bothering her in the slightest. "A bit out of your area, are you not?" Her words continued along with a disturbing sort of purr, only along the r's and s's. She clearly had trouble with Orcish and hadn't bothered to learn the guttral delicacies of it.

"Ah dun tink sah. Ah need tah get rid ah dese ones. It be hard tah destroy em wit dah powah ah light." Xainia paused, not finishing the thought. This warlock didn't need to be privy to the fact that she was a shadow priest. "What be yah name anahway?"

Following another petulant sniff, the warlock answered. "Selima Gallegos." The warlock paused. " You know, isn't nice to kill demons."

"Mah name be Xainia ah Darkspear." The priest paid the same courtesy of sharing her name as the warlock had. "An why yah say dat it nah be nice? If dey be hurtin somebodah dat need tah be alive, den shouldn dey die?"

"I hurt people. I don't think I should die." She ended it on a grin, musing over the was that Xainia presented her own name. "Darkspear, you're very much out of your element, then. Shouldn't you be healing little waifs in Sen'jin?"

"Ah guess…" Xainia let the warlock believe that she was a holy priest. "…but still, ah be 'ere an ah got ah job tah do."

"Tch. And if I were to try and stop you?" Selima suggested an unexpected reaction.

"Ah dun see why yah would, we both be guards." Xainia knew nothing of Selima's true alliances.

"That doesn't matter. I could still kill you." Selima sounded as if she was actually contemplating it as she eyed Xainia up and down curiously.

Being completely wrapped up in the conversation, Xainia didn't notice a satyr nearing them on its patrol. As the demon came within sight, he immediately ran for Xainia and attacked her. Putting up a shield, Xainia turned around to see who was attacking. The warning words of Selima were completely lost in the fight as the priest tried weakly to smite her attacker. Meanwhile, the warlock watched as if she had been presented with dinner and a show. The dreadsteed cantered again and the warlock responded by smacking it upside the face, snarling viciously about her view being obstructed in Demonic.

Xainia seemed to be doing very well against the satyr, until a second patrolling satyr noticed the fight and joined in. Together, the satyrs beat through the various shields that Xainia attempted to put up against them. Now being scaped and beaten by the claws, Xainia suddenly looked downwards and with a massive bloodcurdling scream sent the satyrs running from her. At the same moment that she screamed, shadow surged out from the core of the priest, overtaking her entire form. Grinning meniachally at the satyrs now, Xainia quickly dispensed the first with a mind blast, causing its head to explode. The second satyr ran back at her, but Xainia was ready for him and shot a massive beam of blue energy from her hand, drawing the beam across the demon's chest. The lower half of the satyr's body ran a few more steps as the upper half fell backwards off of the base. Both parts of the body hit the ground quickly as Xainia turned to Selima and realized what she had revealed.

Dropping out of the shadows, the priest began to run off on foot. "Umh… ah got tah gah nah."

Selima raised an eyebrow, straightening up in the saddle. After this reaction, her eyes narrowed and she backed her dreadsteed up out of habit. "-Shadow- priest," she chirruped, having found an infinitely more interesting new quarry. "Now where are you going?" She jabbed her mount in the side, setting it off on a swift trot after the scampering priest.

Reaching the path, Xainia looked for where her mount had gone. Seeing it a distance off, she made for it with the best speed that she could muster. Selima clicked her tongue again, flipping her staff, crowned with what looked like a drakonoid's head, off her back and over her head. Channeling the demonic magics that swam through the air, the warlock watched shadow bolts curl around the drakonoid's head. Selima tilted her wrist, canting her head to the other side as the bolts darted through the air towards her target's legs; the attack being designed to paralyze or inhibit at best.

Being a slow moving target, Xainia was easily taken down by the bolts. One of the shots hit her in the hip while another took out the opposite leg. Hauling herself up from the ground where she had fallen from the strike a few moments later, Xainia cast her best impression of a healing spell on herself and turned to face the warlock. The shadow spells had had another strange effect on the troll besides the temporary immobilization. The symbols that had shown brightly on her skin when she was bound lit up once more in their shade of dark blue. To anyone skilled in the demonic arts, the symbols were easily recognizable as demonic, however the complication of them was beyond and warlock that walked the lands of Kalimdor or the Eastern Kingdoms. The only thing that could be read from them was their nature; binding and control spells.

Selima's eyes widened to a disturbing degree as she directed her horse in a slow circle about the priest. "So you're someone's little pet!" She hissed, eyes darting across the runes as she attempted to understand them. Selima's eyes moved to meet Xainia's as she questioned quickly. "Who?" All fun had gone out of her tone; the warlock clearly meant business.

The symbols quickly faded from the troll's skin as she tried to feign unknowledge. "Ah dun know what yah be talkin ahbout."

Flipping the staff again, Selima stopped it inches from the trolls face, leaning far forward in the saddle. "That wasn't a name."

Answering the near attack by blocking the weapon with her own staff, Xainia answered. "It be none ah yah business."

"Oh come now, feed a woman's idle curiosity." Selima spoke almost visciously, unphased by the troll's reaction.

"Curiahsity yah call it? Well ah dun know 'is name. Ah wouldn' tell yah even if ah did." The troll was much sharper tongued when defending the one who protected her.

Selima narrowed her eyes again but straightened up, flicking her wrist and placing the staff back along its holder. With her other hand, the warlock adjusted it as she spoke. "Fine, get defensive. If I see you killing any more satyr, however…"

Still burning with anger from the warlock prying into her personal life, Xainia harsly snapped an answer back. "Ah can nah believe yah be defendin dah demons. As much as ah use dah shadah, ah'd neva see sometin like dis happen tah ah forest. Yah be mad! Dese satyrs hafta die fah what dey did tah dah forest an yah not gonna stop me from it. Whatevah it takes tah get readah fah killin Hakkar, ah will do. Dat serpent will be dyin!" Xainia yelled as the shadow almost poured out of her due to the unchained emotions.

Selima only snorted at the tirade. "Good luck with that, the bastard won't die easily. Leave the satyr out of it and train somewhere else." Selima positioned her horse in such a way to block the path that headed deeper into Felwood and partially block the path that led back to the northern satyr camps.

Mounting up on her raptor, Xainia trotted over. The troll knew that she had a mission to complete in the fallen barrow dens of Jaedenar; a place infested by satyr. Above this, Xainia could not believe that this undead, a member of her own guild, would want to side with the demons that had corrupted the land.

Aiding her, the voice of Xainia's master spoke in her head. "That warlock is expecting you to attack. Silence her and run to Jaedenar. The way is clear... don't look back as she will follow."

"Wha if she be catchin me?" Xainia thought back to her master.

"It's taken care of… go complete your mission." The voice of the master faded as Xainia was left to solve the problem of getting around Selima.

Looking at Selima warily, Xainia raised her hand and drew it horizontally across the air. It was the spells that the warlock fired which stopped Xainia before, so she had silenced the warlock immediately. Running around Selima, Xainia headed south, venturing off the path to cut off time. The priest did not look back to see if the warlock had followed her; she wanted nothing to do with a defender of the legion.

-------------

"You're not getting away from me." Selima followed Xainia only a short distance behind.

The silence that had overcome Selima caused the warlock to lose control of the spell that kept her dreadsteed in Azeroth and she got behind by a good deal in summoning the horse back to her plane. The loss of her horse and the disobedience of the little pet that she had found angered Selima greatly. Alliances mattered nothing when someone had the gall to be defiant to her.

As Selima gained on the priest, who's raptor was tiring quickly, she was suddenly taken into a fit of horror which caused her to turn away and run around in a paniced fashion that was not like her. When the rush of the horror left her, the troll was gone from her sight and another undead stood on the path before her. The undead was clad in much of the same attire as Selima, except he held a staff with a large purple gem atop it. Not waiting to discover the identity of her attacker, Selima immediately began to fire shadow bolts at the male warlock.

"You entertain me." The warlock wove a massive spell in his hands and a meteor ripped from the sky, landing on Selima and unfolding into an infernal.

Now unconcerned with the fight, the warlock stood back and watched as Selima battled for her life against the massive ball of burning rock. The felhunter that followed Selima around offered little support as the owner of the infernal had banished it temporarily. Straining to fight past the infernal, Selima managed to strike her true opponent with a few shots before both she and the infernal were worn down. The fight between the two was efficient and fast; neither party had a true handicap going into it. Striking upwards with her staff with all that she had left, the demon-aligned warlock broke the infernal down and stood panting before her opponent.

The male warlock held a shadow bolt in his hands ready to strike, glaring at Selima. "Now, I've defeated you and I could kill you with this next strike. Are you going to play nice or will I have to end this little game that you call life?"

"I would have won if you hadn't used that heavyweight." Selima argued, muttering to herself. "No… don't lose it… hold on."

"The means that I use were fair and available to me. You have lost, so I will dictate the terms now." The warlock brought his hands to his side, making the shadow bolt disappear. Taking out some bandages, he approached Selima.

"Stay away from me!" The defeated warlock jumped away with surprising agility for one as injured as she was. "I can take care of myself! I don't need you, I don't need anyone!"

"Fine then…" The victor stowed his bandages and stepped back. "So your name is Selima Gallegos. You are a worthy opponent."

"How could you know my name?" Selima looked to him suspiciously. "You… You're the one who's made a pet out of that troll! I despise you!" The warlock's voice lost all semblance of calm and became as venomous as her stare as she held her staff out at the master.

"You don't even know me and you make such judgements. You do not know anything of my motivations to do what I've done nor my final goal." The master almost scolded Selima as he brought his staff forwards too, ready incase his opponent tried a second attack.

"I know that you've surpressed her free will and willingly changed her fate. You've enslaved someone and for that I will kill you. It may not be today, but you will die by my hand someday." The angry warlock promised the master.

"Yet you bind demons to yourself, you do the same as I. All warlocks have pets… but Xainia is not a pet of mine. The troll is my student, though I do share a unique bond with her." The master tried to explain to his opponent.

"I don't bind demons to myself… I gain their alliegence! You don't know what I am… what's in the box in my head! I was beautiful once… so beautiful that I could seduce anyone to my side. None of you have the right to bind anything! You all deserve to die!" The warlock started calmly but was yelling by the end of her statement, seething with hatred for the assumptions that the master made.

Looking intuitively towards Selima, the master used his innate ability to sense demons and a look of surprise came to his face. "A succubus… You don't really look like one. So I suppose all of your cards are on the table now; a succubus who detests the enslaving of demons or others. Were you enslaved yourself once to give you such a venom?"

"That's none of your business! " Selima had regained enough energy to summon her steed, which she called quickly and mounted in the regular sideways fashion that she rode it in.

"But it is the reason you despise me and my student…" The master began to spoke but was interrupted.

"Your slave, you mean." Selima belted out as she adjusted herself on the horse and brushed her hair to the side, regaining some semblance of calm. "I reserve the right to hate whomever I wish for my own reasons. All you need to know is that your days are numbered. When I kill you… I'll save your soul as a toy for me to look into and torment until all of the life has been snuffed out of this shell that I wear."

Not impressed by the rantings of Selima, the master made his declaration. "I'll tell you this then; stay away from Xainia. If you trouble her any further, I'll show no hesitation in slaying you next time. Ride off now; my student has work to in Jaedenar, killing your precious Satyrs. You are still weakened enough that a single one of my shots could end the life of that 'shell' as you call it."

"Bastard!" Selima exclaimed, steering her horse towards the main path as she kept a grip on her dragon-headed staff. "I'll find her alone sometime where you can't interfere… then I'll find you and kill you once I dispense with her. Sleep lightly, slavedriver." Selima snorted at the master in her haughty fashion before leaving.

Riding off into northern Felwood, Selima now had a focus for all of her hate and her rage. Though the master hated to be so involved in Xainia's affairs, he knew that this was a time where he had to protect his student. In his mind, Xainia was nearly ready to be on her own. After so many months of guiding her in the ways of the shadow, she could finally be free soon. Selima would never understand, but the master could accept that. Though it added danger to the mission to set the troll right, the master knew that he would have to deal with such trials. Turning towards Jaedenar, the warlock readied several spells and began to kill everyone outside once again. From what the master sensed, Xainia would need a clean path of escape before he left the area.

--------------

As the conversation took place between the two warlocks, Xainia continued to run from Selima. The troll couldn't understand why the woman would defend the enemy and even threaten her. In all of her journies, there had only been the master. Xainia had done favors for others just as dozens of other adventurers had, but she had not had any personal relations with adventurers or employers. The voice of the master was her only solace and at the moment it was silent as her master was holding a conversation in the waking world.

By the time that the priest slowed down, she realized that she was in the middle of Jaedenar; she was powerful enough that the denizens didn't dare try to stop her advance unless she troubled them first. Nonetheless, only the broken corpses of the troops were present as guards. Xainia strolled past the bodies and entered the den quickly, wishing that she had not met the arguementative warlock who now chased her.

At the same time, deep in the den, several warlocks were attempting to perform a ritual that Jaedenar had not seen the likes of before. The satyrs of Felwood specialized in corrupting spirits of nature for their own purposes, but the warlocks of Jaedenar wanted their own dependable way to do the same so that Satyrs could be expendable. To this end, they had captured a strange tauren druid that seemed to be unusually weak to the shadows.

Writing in agony upon the altar, the druid tried to grasp her side. A strange burn-like mark upon the druid's side caused untold torment as it glowed with the shadow energy that the warlocks channeled into the druid.

"..W..where am I?" The druid, a female, pondered as the pain pulled at her very core.

"Oh I see you're awake little druid." The leader of the warlocks that surrounded the druid called out as he unbound the druid's mouth. "Let's hear you beg for mercy."

Not wanting to give the warlocks the satisfaction, the tauren rolled to once side and groaned, trying to cover the shadow mark against the stone of the altar. The druid's body had become numb from the pain, aching as if she had just woken up from a bad sleep. One warlock stood on each side of the square altar, channeling energy from the darkness into the druid's writhing form. As she looked to the side, the druid sighted a male troll that had turned to warlock arts and entered the service of Jaedenar. This was not the first time that the servant of nature had seen the troll; he was also at the emerald circle camp frequently. Realizing that she had been kidnapped by the double agent that now channeled shadow into her body, the druid despaired that she had been taken so easily.

What're you...doing..?" The tauren stammered out as the shadows continued to assault her.

Smiling greedily, the leading warlock, a short and ugly orc, explained the situation to the druid. "You will become a corruptor of the forest. Just as the satyrs have mastered, you will master corrupting wildlife under our domination. Once you are complete, we'll have no need for these dirty satyrs and we'll become the true masters of this place." The orc paused, becoming enthralled by his plan. "The trees will not die anymore, they will... they will willingly serve us!"

Adding to the conversation, the troll who had kidnapped the druid snickered and spoke in unaccented orcish; obviously he wished to leave behind his roots. "You have already bore a mark of darkness. I sensed it when I was learning of the druids' practices in the forest. How unfortunate for you that you chose to become a druid. Now you will be the end of the druids for your folly."

Feeling her mind begin to darken, the druid fought as best she could to keep control and push the darkness away. The mark on her side was like a gateway for the corrupting energy, allowing it to pass unmitigated into her soul. As the druid's thoughts twisted, she stared at the leader of the warlocks, wishing that there was a way to break free and leave this place.

As if answered by some form of divine intervention, the face of the orc began to warp and twist. Unable to tell exactly what was happening, the tauren dug deep and mustered the strength to withstand a few more seconds of the torture. Within those moments, the shadow energy stopped entering the druid as the three trolls around the altar folded up in pain, gripping their stomachs. As the shadow receded further, the orc's face dripped off of his skull and splattered on the bottom of the altar, cooling into a pile of green clay.

The pain that the druid felt subsided almost immediately, the shadow mark returning to being a simple burn. Breathing in relief, the druid was not ready for what came next. From the side of the altar where the faintest flow of air entered from the surface, another shadowy presence approached. This presence was not trying to infect the tauren with shadow, but it still caused great pain as it approached.

Eyes wide, the druid's heart begins to race. The dark presence felt somehow familiar, but its malignancy was completely unfathomable. Suddenly as the druid cringed once more in pain, she heard a gasp and felt the shadowy presence disappear completely. Still holding her eyes closed, the naturalist felt the bonds on her arms and legs being untied. Weak wave of healing hit the druid as she opened her eyes to see who was there. Now keeping a wary distance from the other being due to her last encounter, Xainia was watching the druid for any signs of aggression.

Rising in a slow fashion, the bleary eyed and exhausted tauren looked over the red-haired troll slowly. The gaze almost looked through Xainia, as if the druid was unsure that the troll even existed.

"Yah gonnah be ahk? Ah nevah seen somebodah act like dat when ah walk up." The troll asked, hoping to get a better response from the druid than she had from Selima.

Trying to shake off her exhaustion, the druid replied slowly, her orcish not at its best after such an encounter. "I...I'll be alright…"

"Who yah be an what yah be doin down 'ere?" Xainia held a conversation much like the first one that her master had held between the two of them.

The scar now completely silent, the druid rubbed her head. "My name is Telina, and I...don't remember." The druid had lost the memories of the last moments due to the trauma. "..Where am I, anyways..?" Telina glanced around at her dark and corrupt surroundings.

"Yah be in Jaedenah. Dah wah some orcs an trolls doin some ritual on yah."

Thinking as the troll explained, Telina analyzed her new companion. "This one is powerful to have decended this far..." The druid spoke. "Oh… well, I thank you for stopping them. Would you tell me your name also?"

"Ah be Xainia ah Darkspear." The troll answered, hoping for a more positive response than the one she had received during her last conversation.

"Very well, master." Telina stepped off of the altar and looked at the shorter troll whose hair when put up was almost as tall as the druid.

Completely thrown off balance by the title that the tauren had bestowed upon her, Xainia took a few steps away. "Why yah be callin me dat? Dere onlah be one wortha ah dat title."

Assuming that Xainia meant that only the light was worthy of it, Telina explained her use of the term without questioning. "I am a servant of the world, so that title is appropriate for any that I serve."

Shaking her head, Xainia disagreed. "Jus be callin me Xainia. Nah come ova 'ere; dere be more ah dem and we got tah be leavin."

"Yes, master." The druid stepped over and looked up the tunnel, waiting for Xainia to do something.

"Yah be ah druid, right? Yah turn intah ah bear ah sometin sah yah kin get rid ah em?"

"I am a Druid, but I will not fight. It is against my beliefs to drive myself with aggression." Telina explained her nature to the troll.

Sighing, Xainia prepared to fight. "Nah wondah yah ended up down 'ere." Dropping into shadowform Xainia left it again as soon as she saw Telina feel the slightest bit of pain. "Ah nah… if ah use dah shadah den it be hurtin yah. Ah dun know if we be able tah get outa 'ere."

"I will keep you protected, you must fight. Surely you've been gifted with more powers than those based in the shadow." The druid reminded her companion.

Xainia had long since lost the hand-device that her master had given her. In the sands of Tanaris, she had come to believe that emmersing herself in shadow was neccesary for using any of her abilities without the device. "Yah mean dat mah powahs work without dat... dat shadah?"

"Yes, the Shadow is strong, but other forces can be just as strong." Telina paused. "You have been gifted with great inner strength, master. I trust that you can do it and that I can keep you alive."

"Ahk, ah try it." Xainia turned to an orc that was up the path, closing her hands in prayer and calling fire down from the heavens upon the orc.

Being attuned to the shadow, the orcs in Jaedenar had gained a slight weakness to the powers of the light. Though it was unrepresentative of the weak state of Xainia's holy powers, the orc collapsed in one hit. Telina smiled at her new 'master' as Xainia looked at her hands in wonderment.

Seeing that she could still survive without depending on the shadow lightened the priest's heart and encouraged her to continue. "Let's be goin nah… an quicklah."

As the two progressed up the path out of the barrow den, Xainia used only the holy side of her training to destroy the orcs and satyrs. Telina followed closely, not only glad that she was helping the priest, but also glad that Xainia was learning a new way to fight. Before too long, the two neared the entry to the barrow den. A group of six summoners stood off to one side of the path, seemingly ignoring the group. Knowing that she could easily move past them, Xainia decided to let them be. As she moved past, Xainia completely lost sight of Telina. Stopping just up the tunnel from the group, the priest looked around frantically.

"Telinah? Where yah go?" She whispered, trying not to alert anyone else of her presence.

Without warning, a barely visible lion-like cat walked by Xainia and tapped her leg with its paw. Once past beyond the group of summoners, the cat turned into Telina in a puff of smoke and motioned for Xainia to continue. "I am here, master. Lead the way."

Xainia giggled, embarrassed that she had not detected Telina's stealthy transformation. "Yah, ahk. We almost be out."

As the two reached the entrance, they were surprised to see that all of the orcs outside had been killed again. Usually the countless ranks of Jaedenar would have refilled the posts in the time Xainia spent down in the barrow den, but something else was helping them.

"Thank yah, mastah." Xainia thought to her teacher, glad that she would not have to see the druid much further.

"Do not mention it, my child. Go to the path and part ways with this druid, you must be allowed to continue your training in the shadow." The master instructed.

"Yah, it be hard tah be killin like dis. Ah nevah take down Hakkar wit dah light." Xainia recommitted herself to the shadow, glad that she could fight without it, but still longing to return to the ease that it brought to training. Silently, the troll looked around the surface for where her raptor was tied and headed for it and mounted up.

From the tunnel behind the two, the dying scream of an orc issued as a demonic roar flew out of the tunnel alongside it. The tunnel began to light up with fire as the tauren and troll felt the ground shake with the approach of an enemy. The summoning orcs had noticed their presence, but kept quiet to summon a demon that would be the end of the pair. With astounding velocity, a doomguard ran out of the entrance to the fallen barrow den and charged at Telina.

Spinning around in time due to her animal-like instincts, Telina raised her hands and caught the doomguard's axe between her hands. The demon struggled to push his axe to the tauren's body as the tauren tried to resist without breaking her beliefs and hurting the doomguard.

"Go, I can stop him." Telina called out to Xainia as both of them sighted the five remaining summoning orcs approaching from the tunnel.

"But ah dun want tah make yah fight!" Xainia paused, about to dismount from her raptor to help.

"Just go, master. I must keep you protected, I can handle him." Telina almost ordered as she struggled to keep the axe from her face.

More accustomed to following orders than giving them, Xainia rode away as quickly as she could on her raptor and headed for the path away from Jaedenar.

Looking to the ground, Telina continued to hold off the axe as she called to the spirits of nature to aid her. The ground around the doomguard's feet began to crackle and break as roots suddenly broke forth from it and caught the demon in place without harming him. Jumping back and letting the axe swing the rest of its arc, Telina was amused as the doomguard's axe became stuck in the ground from the force of the swing. Not dawdling, the druid quickly turned herself into a cheetah and ran to follow her master out of Jaedenar. As the transformed tauren made it away, she looked back to see the binding spell on the demon break and the demon turn to attack the orcs that summoned it.

Reaching the bottom of the path only a few moments later than the troll, Telina returned to her normal form and relayed the situation to her master. "They won't follow master, the demon that they summoned turned on them. We're safe." The druid smiled warmly.

"Thank yah… ah guess dat makes us even." Xainia tried to figure a way to leave alone as her master had instructed.

"Do not thank me, just do not forget that we are not powerless without the Shadow. Once you forget that, the Shadow can overcome you." The tauren suddenly took a deep breath, as if drawn into something. "You have trying times ahead of you..."

"Wha yah mean?" Xainia was slightly disturbed by this sudden proclamation.

Blinking and snapping out of the dream, Telina continued on a different subject. "Where are we going to next, master. I wish to come with you."

"Wha? Why? Ah dun even know where ah be goin." Xainia pulled her raptor back a few steps, shocked.

"All the more reason... Going alone into the unknown is dangerous, master." Telina advised, calling for her kodo.

"Sah yah jus gonna fallah me? Dat reason be barely enough. Ah not gonna be stayin away from dah shadah… yah might get hurt." Xainia used whatever excuse she could to follow her master's orders.

"I think I can resist it, it's not like I'm being attacked by it." Telina held her side for a moment. "I can protect you."

"An what says ah need dat protection?" Xainia became slightly defensive again, as she had when Selima challenged something that came close to the master.

"You didn't have the courage to use anything but Shadow magic. Even now, you've said you yearn to return to it." Telina shook her head. "If you don't control magics like that, they control you."

Remembering her master's words, Xainia thought for a moment. "Ah'll show yah dat ah be strong. Ah'll show yah dat ah can control dah shadah and it not be controllin me. Nah dat ah know ah can even use dah light tah fight, ah know ah be powahful enough. Dis been ah long time comin… we be headin tah Zul'Gurub. Yah got dah courage tah fallah me?" The troll was certain that this would ward the druid off.

Before the druid could reply, she heard a dark voice in her head, warning her and making the mark on her side burn slightly. "Do not follow… she'll do it without some petty protector with the gall to call her master. She is no one's master yet."

Confused, but dismissing the voice as an inner doubt, Telina answered confidently. "I'll follow you anywhere you wish to go, master. Lead the way."

Slightly cross, but still appreciative of the druid for giving her the courage to fight under strange conditions, Xainia managed the best reply that she could after having her bluff called. "Fine den…" The troll turned her raptor south. "Ah hope dat yah can keep up." Xainia took off without waiting for the druid.

"She's going to be quite a handful… but her spirit is so admirable." Telina climbed onto her kodo which had arrived while the two had been talking. "I only hope she's as strong as she thinks… the shadow is nothing to be toyed with." The druid recited wisdom to herself as she made to follow the troll as quickly as possible towards Orgrimmar and then the evil stronghold of Zul'Gurub.


	6. To Avenge a Broken Soul

**Chapter 6: To Avenge a Broken Soul**

"So dis be it." Xainia commented to herself as she looked upon the ancient gates of the city of Zul'Gurub.

Once the home of countless more trolls than Jintha'alor, the city was now host to legions of corrupted trolls, evil beasts, and even the god Hakkar himself. The jungle had overgrown the gates partly and masked the once sacred stone etchings of the true inhabitants.

"This is what you've worked for, dreamed of, and finally reached." The words of Xainia's master came to her.

"Ya, but it not be ova till Hakkar be dead." Xainia thought back.

"Then kill him. You know what you must do."

"Ah dun hafta be reminded." Xainia thought, a bit more sharply.

"Haha, good. Then I shall leave you to it. You and your 'protector'." The master laughed as his voice faded.

Protesting, Xainia almost snapped back at the warlock "'ey, it not be my fault dat she fallah me."

"Move forward into the city!" A deep tauren voice, which belonged to the warrior named Brood, interrupted Xainia's train of thought.

The group he spoke to consisted of a score of souls, wearing various forms and following various callings. One of them, Marylyn, was an Obsidian Guard as Xainia was. Though Selima wore the tabard of the Obsidian Guards for specious reasons, Marylyn was more of a committed member to the ranks. Though Xainia did not know the undead well enough to consider her a friend, she tolerated Marylyn's company more than that of others.

"So you finally made it here. It took me into a second life to partake of adventures like this; you're starting early." Marylyn struck up a conversation with Xainia as they moved in.

"Ah guess." Xainia sighed as they moved in. "Ah coulda an shoulda done dis a long time ago."

As they conversed, Xainia slowly dropped further and further away from the conversation. Fading from existence too, her skin burned with the now very familiar shadowy fire she had come to need. It was so easy for her to transform now, almost like she was releasing herself completely and just going along with the shadows for a ride. Her years of sorrow and pain flowed forth from her palms and destroyed her enemies utterly. Though Xainia had shown remarkable skill in Jaedenar when she freed Telina from the warlocks there, the priest saw no reason to stay away from using the shadows that had saved her life when she was in the desert. No one liked to speak to Xainia while she was in shadow form, but she could not care less. Was this the control that her master had spoken of; the ability to relax while using such power?

One by one, the avatars of the primal gods fell before the group. Xainia almost pitied them as they gave thanks for freedom, but in the shadow she scorned them. They had been weak enough to fall prey to Hakkar, to the enemy of the world. Kicking at their robbed corpses, she tagged along with the group loosely, saying words of protection sometimes but mainly wreaking vengeful destruction upon the Hakkari trolls.

The only thing that seemed to bring her out of the trances of shadowy rage was the sight of the protector that had accompanied her from Felwood. Although Xainia was initially annoyed that the tauren had followed her out of the woods and even across the sea to Zul'Gurub, a part of her admired the dedication of the druid. On her protector making conversation, Xainia would return from the shadow, but as soon as battle came the idle chatter died quickly as the enemies fell and the shadow returned. Telina had become dedicated to Xainia for what she had done in the forest, despite how violent it was. The tauren saw something more to Xainia than she let meet the eye. These hidden qualities worried Telina at the same time that they intrigued her. Xainia was engulfed by shadow, but full of innocence; she was driven, yet without direction sometimes. In getting this close, the druid walked a dangerous line in the eyes of a different protector. Having Xainia called master by someone disturbed the shadow priest's master nearly enough for him to try to interrupt this relationship.

"This isn't the way to one of the primal gods, there's an altar over that way." Someone in the group spoke up as the group moved around several sets of tents and slew raptors.

"I know. I have heard that a general of sorts resides around here." Brood spoke up to the group.

Entering a dead ended area, they all saw a raised Dais with a mounted troll atop it. The troll looked down at the training ground around him, proud of the troops that he constantly maintained.

The warrior spoke out as he spotted the troll. "There he is; The Bloodlord, Mandokir!"

The rest of the group looked up at Mandokir and moved to a safe place, but Xainia was nearly caught in a trance as she looked towards the bottom of the dais. The dancing visions she had defeated with the shadows nearly returned as her memories flooded around her. Someone whom the priestess did not expect to see was in Zul'Gurub.

_"A dun care, out tha way."__... "Not even Vilebranch, we let ya stay here __an__ ya did dis! Ya killed __our the__ bearah of our savior an ya killed tha only trolls who can summon it again." … "Eat em, alive!"_

The vile troll who had led the procession into the city so many years ago, who had called for the death of her parents, and whose visage had haunted her for all the time that she had been in Durotar, knelt at the base of the dais in reality. The Vilebranch speaker was the one that Xainia had feared and now hated; he was the emissary from his tribe to the Hakkari. Xainia hissed loudly as the shadows swirled larger around her and her eyes filled with rage.

Noticing her companion, Marylyn stepped over. "Recognize someone?" The undead questioned.

Xainia began to step forward, but Marylyn caught her arm loosely with a gloved hand and Telina took a slight step infront of her. The two were worried that their companion might tear through them if both of them didn't stop her.

"We're about to attack. Don't lose us the element of surprise!" Marylyn said sternly and quietly.

"We have to deal with this one carefully." Telina looked back over her shoulder at Xainia after sizing up the speaker from a distance.

"Dun be stoppin me! Dis one be mine!" Xainia spoke through clenched teeth.

Fortunately for the mage and the druid, they were able to let Xainia go; the warriors called for the charge just then and Xainia charged in quickly behind them.

"Mast… Xainia! What are you doing?" Telina looked after Xainia, restarting mid-sentence to hide her familiar term for the priestess.

"I've learned not to question that one. You told me that she fought her way out of Jaedenar to save you. If she was willing to do that, this isn't much of a stretch. There are many things about her which would astound the living and the dead. Just keep her alive." Marylyn chuckled at the druid and threw some ice at the Vilebranch speaker.

Seeing the priest charge in but not recognizing her, the speaker laughed. "Killin' you be easy!"

Before the speaker could draw arms, the warriors were about him, restraining him and beating him like a festive piñata. Each strike pleased Xainia immensely in her shadowy existence, but it wasn't enough.

"Hey! Hold im for ah secon!" Xainia called out as she reached the warriors.

"Are you serious?" One of the orc warriors questioned. "We have to kill him! Mandokir will come any moment; he is searching for his weapons atop the dais!"

"Den go, ah got dis!" Xainia grabbed the Vilebranch troll by the neck and charged out of the group of warriors with him, pinioning the speaker to the ground.

"Well she is a shadow priest." The orc dismissed it as they turned to engage the approaching bloodlord. "Shields up, I've got the raptor!"

The speaker, now very bloodied and beaten, stared up at his captor from his pinned position. "Wha?"

"So ya gonna try an eat me, ya dam cannibal?" Xainia sneered at the speaker, the shadow from her skin drying the blood on the speaker's face.

"Who you be? You… ah seen you." The troll coughed up some blood only for it to be burned away as his face shriveled in the dark energy.

"Ah let ya know… jus so ya be aware who finally put an end to ya." Xainia slowly moved both of her hands to his face, positioning her fingers at various places on his skull. The troll was too frightened of what shadowy ritual she was performing to resist.

Xainia forced her bad memories forward, letting the speaker see them. _"Parents"_ They muttered quietly in unison as the battle raged in the background. _… "Jintha'alor" … "Ah want mah dessert!"_

The speaker's eyes snapped open as he realized her identity. "You! Nah way! You can't be ahlive!"

Xainia laughed a bone chilling shadowy chuckle full of rage and glee at the astounded troll. "Ah be alive. Now ya can go fin out how death is fa me!"

Tensing up suddenly, Xainia poured forth shadowy energy from her hands directly into the troll. His face did not begin to warp and melt; Xainia was far too close for that to happen. With a sudden effort, Xainia lifted the troll up, his body held to her hands by the force of the shadow. The priestess' rage and pain seethed into the target through her hands. With barely time to scream, the Vilebranch speaker's facial skin vaporized and his hair ignited into a gigantic crest of blue flame in the air behind him. Xainia roared as she channeled more and more into the close to lifeless troll. The hate witin her would not let him die; Xainia had the shadows keep him alive to feel every moment of the mind-shattering pain that ate away his body. Watching his hair crumble and fizzle out as the rest of his skin melted off his body, Xainia almost cracked a satisfied maniacal smile. Finally, the speaker's head exploded, allowing the shadows to trap him in the shattered husk no longer. Xainia dropped the body and stood over it, breathing heavily. The only remnants of the evil troll now were a headless skeleton and a pile of ash and melted flesh.

_"Yes… that's it… don't you feel the power. They will fear you and hold you in high regard for your power. We can do it… we will take your revenge."_ A voice not belonging to Xainia's master spoke in her head, but the troll dismissed it as she left the shadows at Telina's approach.

"Master, do you want this kilt?" Telina walked over and saw the mess. "By the… what did you do to him?"

Snapping out of her near trance at killing her hated enemy, Xainia looked at the red-tinged kilt as the shadows left her. "Sure ah take it." She grabbed it from the tauren.

"But wha…" Telina looked at the corpse again.

Xainia looked back at it for a moment, and shrugged before moving behind some cover and putting on the kilt. The others had noticed this act and simply not approached the shadow priest about it. Xainia had accomplished a great vengeance, but she still had more to do; Hakkar had to die. Soon, the score of adventurers moved to the base of his altar, they could see him looking out and sneering at the city from this perch.

"Ah dun believe all dese wind serpents be like Hakkar. We gonna hafta kill dem all someday." Xainia spoke generally among the group after they had killed some of the lesser serpents on the altar.

Telina stared at the slightly shorter troll, pondering over her obsession with Hakkar. The images of the utterly destroyed Vilebranch speaker flashed through the tauren's mind, stirring feelings of fear and wonder that she had not felt in ages. The group soon engaged and killed the last of the guardians on the altar. The long fight towards the god was finished and hells gate stood open for them to enter in the form of the altar they had to ascend.

Walking slightly faster now, Telina caught up to Xainia and tried to start up a conversation with the troll. "Are you...ready for this, Master?" The tauren asked

Sounding almost venomous at the doubt, Xainia almost dismissed the tauren immediately. "Who ya be ta be askin me dat? Ah proven mahself plentah ah times."

Taken aback by the violent response, Telina stared blankly at the Troll for a few moments and blinked before replying. "I...don't want you hurt. You wouldn't tell me why you came here, but I can tell that it's important to you. It would be a shame to see your quest end unfinished."

"Mah quest ain gonna be unfinished. Ah am Darkspear! We not let Hakkar stay in dis world." Xainia asserted pridefully, as if that phrase was almost the core of her being.

The Tauren nodded to her in silence then thought of more to ask. "What of that Troll back there, Master? May I inquire as to what role he played in your Quest?"

"Ya may not." Xainia turned to go, trying to keep to herself.

Telina didn't want to stay unknowing, so knew she had to keep the troll there to talk to her. Unknowing of the consequences, Telina grabbed the young troll's arm as she tried to leave. This act could have meant nothing more than an inconvenience, but for a druid attuned to nature and the world, it linked them. Both of them were unaware that the shadows carried Xainia's thoughts and emotions so prevalently. In an instant, Telina's contact showed her exactly what had happened and what was going on. The tauren wondered why she hadn't seen these thoughts before, but then realized that she would never have dared to grab someone whom she had just met. In addition, the tauren remembered that she had taken her gloves off to clean them on the grass; the blood-tinged kilt that she had handed to Xainia was wet from its dye. The bare contact, along with Telina's wish to know what Xainia's mind carried, caused the reaction to happen as it did. Realizing that her friend was getting a view of everything that she didn't want to share, Xainia jumped back away from her, freeing her arm.

Stopping dead in her tracks from the horrible images, Telina could do no more than stare at the Troll. A strange look was in the druid's eyes as she tried to account for her actions. "...Xainia. I..."

Looking embarassed at her soul being bore to this still new acquaintence, Xainia glared. "Wha did ya see… ya not supposed ta see dat."

Not breaking her eyes away from the troll, Telina quickly pondered an answer. "I... saw your torment. I saw why you are here. I know what you seek." Looking over at the group, now quite far away from the pair, Telina still confided in the troll. "I still want to help you, Master."

Xainia was looking a much darker shade of blue in embarrassment. "Dah onlah be one dat really be helpin me… an stop callin me masta. Dah only be one who get dat title." Xainia went to walk up to the group.

Telina assumed that Xainia meant some sort of higher being, but then she thought of the memories she had seen. Xainia's master had appeared in a glimpse only, a complication Telina could not explain because she recognized the undead. Telina thought about everything for a moment, trying to piece things out and thinking over the quick turn of events before running to catch up to Xainia. Catching up easily, the Tauren fell into step behind the once again shadowy Xainia, remaining silent for the time being.

After continuing slightly behind the group for a bit, Xainia half looked over her shoulder, her eyes burning with shadow and almost causing Telina pain. "Ya done callin' me dat?"

"I call anyone that title if I think they've diserved it or if they need my help. I am a servant of the world… and I do want to help you. No one should have to go through what you've gone through."

"Oh, ah guess ya feel observan now, doncha? Ya feel so selfless?" Xainia argued with her protector, not coming out of shadowform to talk and letting the shadows speak for her.

"Of course not." Telina fended off the accusations.

Xainia paused and turned to look at Telina. "Den... wha ya say ya want ta help?" The shadows lifted slightly.

Smiling, Telina presented her case for sticking around. "Because you deserve it, you deserve release. You have suffered for far too long."

The master had taught Xainia to work on her own and to earn her future in the same way that he had once found his. Put off by by the tauren speaking of giving and deserving, Xainia turned away again. "Nah bodah deserves anahting. Whatevah we have… we earn fah ahselves. We make ah own futah." Xainia continued to walk away

Thinking of Xainia's master, Telina easily saw through the front that Xainia was putting up easily. "Do you really believe in that? Do you believe that anyone who helps another has to gain something from the situation? HE helps you without gaining anything from it. You have the will to do this, but even the most powerful of druids couldn't defeat Hakkar alone. Please, accept my help, master. I ask nothing in return, not even your friendship. Allow me to be your guardian."

"Ah… ah dun knah what tah say. Yah be right…" The troll knew that Telina spoke true about selflessness. Pausing for a moment, Xainia came out of the shadows completely. "Ah once took somebodah's help… an it changed me fah dah bettah. Maybe den it be right tah bring along tha ones that be willin tah help yah." Xainia put her hand on the tauren's arm.

_"You don't need her help… all you need is us."_ The voice that Xainia had heard before spoke again, but was once more dismissed.

Looking up into the eyes of her master, Telina saw the reason that she had followed the troll again. Underneath the shadows that she wore and the fears that she hid from, the heart and sense of caring that Xainia's parents had taught her still shined. "Thank you, master. What can I do to help you?"

"Jus like ya did in Felwood, keep me ahlive an ah be dah one tah show Hakkar dat he not be welcome in dis world." Xainia turned to run up to where the group was waiting.

The Tauren nodded an obeyed her Master's command, running alongside her, watching her out of the corner of her eye with curiosity. Though the troll had faded in to speak calmly for a moment, the ever closer sight of Hakkar caused her to quickly return into the shadows. Soon she and the group stood staring coldly at the enormous god.

"Dis ting be what da Darkspears hafta stop. Ah dun believe dey really brought him back."

Telina nodded silently, breathing in the chilling air that surrounded Xainia. The dark energy that poured off of the troll upset the tauren, but she was learning to withstand the powers of her master enough to carry out her duty.

"Looks like you've got a new best buddy." Marylyn commented wryly.

Niether of them paid much heed to the comment; Xainia was too distracted by Hakkar and Telina was distracted by the strange feelings of power and pain that the shadow was giving her.

"You toy with what you don't understand, druid." A dark voice now entered Telina's head. The druid held a hand to her forehead as it continued "What makes you think that you can know her pain? That anyone can know her as I do? I was going to leave this alone, but you're disturbing her training."

Leaning forward slightly, she whispered softly while thinking. "She is under my protection. I am her guardian, she is my Master."

"You assume a place that is not yours. She is not able to be anyone's master yet. She has not earned such a right nor proven that she can handle it. Don't step where you are unknowing of the ground." The voice warned.

"How are we supposed to grow if we never explore the unknown?" She thought back to the voice, trying to recall the fleeting vision of the undead that she had seen in Xainia's memories. "Are you so prideful that you would give her no refuge once her training is complete? You will set her up for such a fall that she may never recover."

Given pause by such a scathing statement, the voice almost stuttered in return. "I… Impossible! She hardly needs me as it is… the time will come soon when she may walk alone and she will walk alone with the full drive that she has shown throughout her training. My involvement no longer matters." The voice asserted with as much confidence as it could on something so unsure.

"You're a fool, undead. You were human once… for most, separation is horror and pain." Telina shook the voice from her head as if it was a mere headache and looked up again.

While she had been daydreaming, the other eager fighters and healers had been preparing. Telina was suddenly brought back from her thoughs by a scream that could have shattered ten thousand nerves of steel

"Pride heralds the end of your World! Come, Mortals! Face the Wrath of the Soul flayer!" The god Hakkar yelled as the warriors ran in towards him.

The druid looked back at Xainia as she prepared to enter combat, seeing the determination in the troll's eye. Sighin to herself in preparation, Telina prepared to keep the priest alive. Rushing in as she had when she fought the Vilebranch Speaker, Xainia put forth her hate and vengeance towards the god. To the priest, this was the culmination of finishing what her parents had not been able to. It was not vengeance, but it was the next best thing. Still providing some protection for the warriors, Xainia placed her hands forwards slowly and began to pour out shadowy energy. The druid remained as close to Xainia as possible, watching over her, and healing her allies with the power of nature as the battle wore on. Suddenly, one of the wind serpents who were christened sons of Hakkar was among them, called by the attacks on its master.

"Kill it! Quick!" Someone in the group called out.

Pausing a moment, Telina watched the fighters dispense with the frail creature. As soon as the serpent had fell, its body let loose a poisonous cloud so virulent and concentrated that it was visible in the calm air.

"Ah dun feel so well" Xainia staggered a bit as did the rest of the group.

Telina too slumped slightly, feeling weaker; she knew that the entirety of the group had been poisoned. The weakness spread so quickly that the druid was unable to utter any rites of purification. Slumping more and slowly falling to the ground, Telina looked around and saw the others turning green, their veins throbbing against their skin.

"Those serpents...We'll never succed like this!" One of the group members called out.

Almost instantly, another drain was felt. For some reason, this drain did not feel painful or weakening. Soon, the weakened feeling lifted completely as the members of the group watched Hakkar reel in sickness. The greed of the blood-hungry god had led him to drain their blood in search of power and inherit the poison that his own sons had produces. The druid rose tall again, along with the other fighters, all ready to fight again. Looking towards Hakkar once more, everyone continued to attack… their victory seemed assured. Soon Hakkar was well worn down, but the next few moments proved the most unfortunate for the team of adventurers. In a rage at the time that was being taken away from his sacrifices by the attackers, Hakkar mustered all of the strength that he could and began to grow in size and turn a redder shade. The god was channeling all of his power into the destruction of the fools that had challenged him.

"Using anger for power; where have I seen this before?" Telina muttered amusedly, not wanting to draw parallels between the blood god and the shadow that Xainia wore too loudly.

Xainia noticed the change too, not knowing how to handle it. The other fighters spoke of running before it was too late, but Xainia wouldn't give up now. Calling for her master in her mind, Xainia desperately sought his guidance. "Masta, we not gonna kill im fast enough. He gonna get strongah. Wha can ah do?"

The master hardly wanted to give her guidance with the scathing revelations that Telina had imparted to him, but he knew that his pupil would die otherwise. "You have known what destroys strength and well being, you will realize it in the time you have." The undead tried to be as general as possible.

With the few words of her master, Xainia thought of what to do. It would be painful for her, but more so for her target. Bringing forth her years of sorrow and regret, the spirits that had plagued her and kept her from functioning before she found her master, Xainia channeled them all into her attack. The mindflay beam she was issuing turned a deeper shade of blue as all of this began to hit Hakkar.

Telina's eyes widened, sensing the danger coming, she shouted at Brood. "NOW! You must back away, for your own good, recall your soldiers!"

Just as Telina said that, Hakkar began to strike out with exteme power. The god came for the group, but was suddenly stopped by a feeling of loss deeper than any being had ever felt.

The god yelled. "What is this? What is in my mind! Get out of my mind you mortals. You are not worthy to affect such things!"

"Yah drank ah da souls an blood ah othas sah freely… nah yah get tah feel dere pain and dere revenge!" Xainia shouted out as Hakkar began to flail about wildly.

As the god writhed helplessly, blood seeped from his pores and lit up in dark flame. The spirits of all the trolls that he had consumed began to rise up from the dark burning liquid. Each soul cut into him with tooth or weapon, dealing so much damage to his frame that the last of his vitality quickly left him. In addition to the pain, the god was rapidly losing his power from the loss of souls and their blood. Though the god could have easily cleaved everyone around him only a moment before, he was now as helpless as a squirrel in the middle of the Western Plaguelands.

"No! Impossible!" The god yelled as his scaly flesh fully ignited in blue flames.

Hakkar's feathers seared off soon, leaving only his naked serpentine body. As the shadow poured from Xainia, Telina struggled to keep her alive. Though the shadow did not normally drain from life, the extent to which Xainia was using it began to cause her harm. The rest of the group watched in horror as the dancing skeletons and blood drained trolls crawled out of the god's flesh and began to attack him with a feracity not of the mortal world. Before any of the living could join in, the spirits had turned Hakkar into a charred husk of what he once was. The god did not even get to cry out as he died; the spirits had executed him physically with great speed, but what the experience was like in his mind was not for mortals to understand. With his death, the altar was silent and the spirits gone. Xainia walked up, breathing heavily, and kicked the husk. Slowly, Brood approached with weapons drawn and in one swift motion, he sliced at the only un-charred part of the god; cutting out his evil heart. The enormous organ rolled before another one of the priests in the group who took custody of it.

Stabbing the husk a few more times, Brood proclaimed. "He is dead."

The druid remained silently in the back, holding her side and breathing deeply. Feeling drained, Telina kept her eyes on Xainia to see that the shadows didn't consume her entirely after such use. The others went up to rob Hakkar's corpse while Xainia just stood still almost in a trance once again.

Telina silently moved behind her and whispered softly. "It's over, Xainia."

"Ya. It be ova." Xainia sighed as the shadows dropped from her.

Telina put a hand on Xainia's shoulder lightly as they both watched the group pack up. The group left the city, not wanting to share the strange sights they had seen within. The destruction of Hakkar's heart at Yojamba Island only further cemented his inability to return. Zul'gurub would now rest, becoming once again the ruins of an ancient empire that nearly consumed itself before the few tribes saw the way and fought as Xainia of Darkspear and her companions did this day.


	7. Shadow Egression

**Chapter 7: Shadow Egression**

"Ah no, ah blacked out again." Xainia woke up in the Valley of Spirits; it was nighttime.

"You have trained long, my pupil." The master's voice filled her head.

"Why ya be sayin dat all of ah sudden?" Xainia thought back, confused as to the sudden mention of it.

"You will know. Make your way to Shadowbreak Ravine with all haste; you will come alone." The master ordered solemnly.

"Yes, masta." Xainia rose headed quickly across the city to the flight master, paying for a ride to Sunspring Post.

Elsewhere in Orgrimmar, the master sat in a small house to wait out the night. The events of the next few days would shape Xainia's future, and he was confident that the troll would be able to handle herself. Small doubts pricked at the warlock, but the power that he now admired Xainia for capturing caused the doubts to fade quickly.

The next morning, several companions walked with the mysterious mask-clad undead as they exited the house onto the path. Hasur, one of the horde's greatest shamans, a less trained but still powerful warrior gone shaman, Okquina, and a mage by the name of Ranilok all followed the once-man through the city. Keeping to the path through the drag and the cleft of shadows, the group also headed towards the flight tower. The master looked past the bridge to the tower and smiled wryly, his grin crackling amongst the dead flesh on his face.

"This way." He said quietly to his companions as he turned and headed towards the Valley of Spirits.

Telina, the druid who had accompanied Xainia in Zul'Gurub, was sitting on the heated stone slabs that rose above the water of the pond in the area. The druid had left the night before as Xainia slept on the stones and was surprised that he master was gone upon her return. Telina often sat around the stones even without the troll's presence, it calmed the tauren to gaze absent mindedly across the waters. Thinking of recent events, she noticed the group approach and stop at the edge of the water. The druid watched the group walk for a few moments longer before rising to her feet and approaching, curious as to why they watched her.

Suddenly, the master motioned for Telina to hold her approach, pointing at her. "You will come with me."

Telina paused, slightly startled, but decided to come. The druid recognized the presence from Xainia's memories and the voice from her own mind. Nodding to him, Telina silently fell into step behind the group as the continued back in the direction that they had come from.

In the druid's mind, the words of the master lit up. "You are coming to help us perform a ceremony; one that must be done."

The druid remained wordless and followed, rolling over this information in her mind. The mental voice was undoubtedly the one she had heard on the altar, and though she could not see this warlocks face, she had seen him in the highest chambers of Blackrock Mountain. They headed towards the flight master and all quickly started off for Thunder bluff. The Druid mounted a wyvern behind Okquina and watched her as they flew. The orc stared dead ahead, but the Tauren's gaze was transfixed upon her; she seemed very familiar. Noticing the gaze out of the corner of her eye, Okquina looked over at Telina, wondering why she was staring.

The druid stuttered a moment "Er. Have we... met before?"

"I don't think so. I ain never seen you before." Okquina said before looking forwards once more.

"Hmm... I see..." She hesitated a moment, before asking. "Do you know a troll named Xainia?"

Okquina looked at her incredulously. "That's why you're here, aint it?"

The Druid nodded slowly, realizing that the rest of the group was somehow involved with the side of Xainia that the troll kept hidden from the world; the memories that were best left undisturbed.

"Then why you askin me?" Okquina pondered the redundancy of Telina's question.

"I'm sorry, you just seemed familiar." Telina turned her head away from the orc and looked down, losing herself in thought briefly before turning back to Okquina. "But one thing."

"Yeah?" Okquina turned her head back towards the druid as they flew.

"Thank you for everything you did for Xainia." Telina turned back and fell silent, lost in thought once more.

After a good deal of time, they landed in the great city of Thunder bluff; situated across four of the largest mesas in all of Kalimdor. As she dismounted from the Wyvern, Telina spread her arms out and embraced the warm wind of her race's home city, closing her eyes and feeling her spirits lift, her father's words echoing in her mind as they always did. "Wind at your back". It had been a long time since Telina had found the time to return to Thunder Bluff, but this visit would unfortunately be fleeting. Heading down towards the spirit rise, the many taurens in the city nearly obscured the smaller members of the group from view. The destination that they sought was the cave on the spirit rise. The master entered alone, leaving the four outside to wait for his return.

The companion that had remained silent the entire journey was rather out of place in natural area such as Thunder Bluff. Ralinok was indeed a strange sight and disturbed the inhabitants greatly; he was a blood elf. Most of the group even watched him suspiciously out of the corners of their eyes.

The elf took some arcane powder from his pack and rolled up a piece of parchment, snuffing it all up in a single snort. "Aaaaahhh." he sighed in relief.

Hasur looked away in disgust, while Telina rolled her eyes and turned away also. The group had heard of blood elves doing such vile things for magic, but they had not seen this method of taking it in before. Trying to get past the sight, Okquina sat down near the edge of the mesa and began to have some food as they waited.

"So you never said how you know the troll." Okquina spoke in Telina's direction.

"Oh well, I just… I just know a lot about her." Telina stifled an answer, not wanting to call Xainia her master openly.

Hasur walked over to the druid and looked into her deep brown eyes for a moment then walked away, speaking as he did. "You've seen the madness too; I can tell. I don't know why she showed you or how you saw it, but you know it all."

"Yes, I… I did see it." Telina looked embarrassed at being read so easily.

"Then that's why he brought you." Okquina spoke between bites of her food.

Soon, the master returned with another companion at his side, also an undead. It was the powerful priest Malakai Cross, skilled in both light and shadow.

"This had better be worth my time." The priest said to the master.

"I assure you, you will see things that you have never witnessed before, priest." The master led the group back towards the tall totem that served as the flight tower for the city.

"I find that hard to believe, but I shall come for now." Malakai spoke cynically.

"We head for Ferlas." The master mentioned as he continued to the top of the tower.

The group took to the air again on the long flight to Camp Mojache. Malakai flew next to the Ranilok conversed with him to try and pry into how his new use of demonic magics had changed him. Telina kept focused on Okquina; the orc had been in the visions she had seen from Xainia. Okquina had been so involved with Xainia and knew so much, but Telina felt out of place asking anything of her.

After they landed at Camp Mojache, the master led the group to the north into the wilderness. As they walked the eccentric blood elf spied a wisp floating around and consumed it in a flash of magic. Though the shamans were not aligned with the wisps, the action still disturbed them slightly.

Telina, as a druid, was disgusted at this barbary. "Worse than some Undead." She thought silently as she shook her head in pity.

As they passed by Grimtotem and Woodpaw camps, the woods became quieter and quieter. Nearing a small cave in the mountains between the grey lands of Desolace and the verdant green of Ferlas, the group was suddenly warned away by a forboding growl.

"A beast is near, arm yourselves" Okquina said, slipping back to her warrior instincts.

Telina growled slightly, using some of her feral powers to try and detect where the animal was. Without a care as to who it faced, a bear strode up to the group. The animal's upper arms were covered in scarring from burns that were healing. Quickly, the bear took on a humanoid form, but this form caused all in the group except the master to draw weapons. The animal, now obviously a druid, appeared to be a night elf.

"It is you, undead" The elf spoke in common for a moment. "Stay your weapons, please" he switched his language to Orcish.

Already stunned that the elf was speaking orcish, the group lowered weapons. Telina sighed and then looked the elf over, glancing at the blood elf in comparison.

"What kind of strange night elf are you to speak with the horde?" Ranilok questioned.

Telina snorted at the irony as the blood elf was speaking in orcish too. Blood elves didn't hold the best footing with Thrall, though some rumors had passed of negotiations between the forsaken and Silvermoon.

"My name is Ic'nay, or at least that is the name I have taken. I forsook elfkind long ago." The night elf spoke again. As he continued to talk, the group noticed that his teeth were misaligned, almost appearing to be primitive fangs. "Elves are a magical perversion of trolls. We must forsake even our heritage to become one with nature." The figure professed, striving to explain the fangs that the group obviously stared at.

"As much as trolls no longer trouble me, to deny being an elf is madness." Ranilok asserted.

"Each to his own, you forsook what you once were to embrace these sundering magics. Through my choice, I have retained nature's immortal blessing which my kind has lost… However, I will slowly cease to be an elf. I shall become something that I do not know; something that we once were."

Turning to the blood elf, Telina spoke up "Look, we're not here for history on the elves, we're here to help someone. Now, drop your bickering, you wisp eating freak, and let's go..." She turned back onto the path and pressed on, disturbed by the anger that this elf was exciting within her.

Ranilok simmered for a moment, looking slightly peeved, but stifled it as he noticed the rest of the group was moving on. Malakai busily watched the night elf, wishing to discover all the changes that had come over him.

"This journey is somewhat interesting… but elves are not too strange of a sight." He thought, wondering what surprises the undead that had brought him was hiding.

Soon, they were into steep terrain that could not normally be scaled. The master brought out a bag of climbing gear and began to head on, stringing it behind him for everyone else.

Ranilok laughed to himself, trying to get back into the flow of the group. "Just like the old days, M."

"Yes, I suppose." The master idly commented, more concerned with the climbing than with reminiscing about adventures through icy lands.

The trees became sparser as they continued up the hill and soon the land began to look foul; the group was clearly no longer in Feralas. As they crested the top of the rise, they saw the source of this corruption, a shadowy valley with gigantic mushrooms growing in it; Shadowbreak ravine.

The master approached a circle of stones on the highest rise in the valley after packing up the climbing gear and descending into the area carefully. "We have one more member which we must bring forth." The master drew a stone from his pouch, a regular purple one, and began to weave a summoning portal.

"A powerful warlock, even moreso than myself. Aid me in his summoning!" He began to open the portal.

"More trouble than him, too?" Telina muttered before moving forward to assist.

Malakai held on the portal, wanting to see what could be more powerful but his aid was not enough.

"Oh no. You're bringing Him here? How in the world did you contact him?" Ranilok sighed, a guilty look coming to his face.

"Just help open the damn portal!" The master cursed at his companion, having some trouble holding the portal open.

Reluctantly helping, Ranilok joined in on the summoning. "Ok, but if you're short someone on this ceremony, it's because he will have killed me."

The portal grew greatly in size, and then from the hole in existence, four black long legs shot out. Parts of a long robe were seen next, followed by an enormous body and many more legs.

"By Nerub, it is hot down here." a very shadowy voice came from the being.

"Neru'Rekan, it is good to see you again." The master greeted the spider-lord with a courteous bow.

Telina's ears fell low behind her horns and she sighed quietly as she backed up and watched Neru'Rekan. Before the group stood a true nerubian, one of the small number still alive beyond the grasp of the Lich King. Shadows poured off of the spider and much greater power eminated from him than any in the group had ever witnessed. Telina put her hand to her head and another to her side, a headache gripping her. Neru'Rekan noticed that the druid was weak to shadow and laughed almost mockingly, pinching her with his aura and watching as she squirmed.

"Methuselah, I do not wish to remain here. Nerub'Itjahz needs my power and my guidance. Remind me again why I am helping you." The nerubian demanded as he looked around at the corrupted land on which he stood.

The master looked at the large spider, irked by the name that the spider had used. "That is not my name anymore. You are helping me because you know that performing a selfless act of aiding another will intrigue you for decades."

"Such does not matter." The spider dismissed the notion. "But I know that you have foolishly plunged yourself too deeply into the realm of the shadows. I will pull you out of it this once because of what you once were… not because of what you are, undead."

"Then let us begin." The master led the group to the stones that surrounded the center of the plateau.

"We are here today because of a common acquaintance we all have. One whom Hasur told me of and shared his visions of nearly a year ago. Some of us have been involved, others have stumbled upon her," The master eyed Telina. "and some of us are simply here to help in the ceremony. Now, the time has come. Xainia has completed what she set out to accomplish. It is no longer my place to control her, she must be freed."

"Nothing is too powerful to control, Methuselah, but continue" The spider interrupted.

"She will arrive here soon, and you will participate in freeing her." The master knelt down and began to draw runes on the ground with a piece of chalk.

"Such will not do for this, Methuselah" The spider looked at the simple chalk that was being used to draw the symbols.

"My name is Maldelic, Neru'Rekan." The undead was slightly bothered again by the use of his old name.

"You are, nonetheless, the same being. For this ceremony, you require blood." Neru'Rekan looked around the group and noticed Ranilok for the first time since he had arrived. The spider smiled grimly, masked hatred eminating from his insectoid visage. "You… You've more than betrayed my people and all of your friends. It's your fault that any of this has come to pass… even Methuselah's undeath. Slit your throat and give me your blood. It wouldn't be enough for me to kill you without my people watching, and I can't take you back with me for my people to satiate their hunger for your soul without the proper reagents. I would consider it fitting repayment for you to kill yourself in aid to the ceremony, elf."

"Looks like someone has a bit of a sketchy history." Telina whispered to Okquina, but the speech was still barely audible to Ranilok.

"Oh be quiet, cow." Ranilok made a small outburst at Telina and then turned to Neru'Rekan. "You can't have my blood. I wish you luck in torturing me in death, I intend to live forever."

"I could make your death occur rather rapidly, elf!" The spider took a menacing step forwards as he spoke threateningly at the blood elf.

"Both of you! I know you've had problems in the past, but this is not the time. We have a mission to accomplish." Maldelic stood between them.

"You risk much in separating a nerubian from its prey. Why do you protect him? He has allowed you to exist in undeath! His soul is tainted with greed and other defiance to the great order of Nerub; the only reason he isn't as bad as the Lich King is that he has not killed any of my people!" Neru'Rekan demanded reasoning from Maldelic.

"I may be dead… but through my continued existence I've been able to help the one that we free today. I'll risk anything to see the ceremony completed." Maldelic stood his ground between the two.

"Such a willing risk; I'll respect it." Neru'Rekan looked to the elf again. "You should be thankful that others are willing to put your well being before theirs. I am certain that you don't have that ability." The spider spied a corrupt orc walking through the ravine. Charging the orc, he picked it up bodily as it screamed in absolute terror. Quickly the spider bit its head off and bled it onto a nearby indentation in a stone that looked to be used for such purposes.

"Disturbing..." Telina watched the display.

The night elf druid shivered and looked away as the others tried to simply not pay attention. Ranilok began sneaking with a hungry look on his face towards one of the four imps following Neru'rekan around.

The spider glared at him, easily detecting the movement amidst his concentration. "Don't even think it elf. I have an entire room full of implements of torture for you. Even if your body dies, I'll still be able to make you feel it."

Ranilok tried to change the subject by questioning Neru. "Is orc blood really so useful in rituals?"

"You would not understand blood rituals. You are not a warlock." The spider drew over the chalk symbols in blood, brushing off the elf's question.

Telina was still entertained by the group's behavior. It was amazing that such a wide assortment of beings were brought together for this. Looking out over the corrupted vale, the sights and smells brought Telina's mind off what lie behind her, and she looked out for a moment, thinking things over, then she wondered... "Where -was- Xainia..?"

--------------

Xainia headed through the Stonetalon Mountains to reach the ravine. It had taken her quite some time to reach that point on her raptor, even though she flew some of the way. By the time that Xainia was entering Desolace, it was nearly night time the day after she had left Orgrimmar. As she headed south towards the ravine, she thought of what this might be.

"Ah dun wanna be back 'round here. Ah done with dis place." She thought. "Wha da masta want me here?"

_"Because he's going to forsake you, leave you, kill you." _A voice inside her jided.

"Dat not be true… whose voice dat be?" she continued to speak in her mind.

_"I'm you of course. Don't worry… even if he leaves, I'll take care of things."_ The voice continued, trying to sound re-assuring.

Questioning it, Xainia became slightly curious. "What ya mean?"

Laughing in a scary and almost childish sounding way, the voice explained in more detail. _"I'll take care of you. No one ever seems to want you in this world. Don't you feel it? They'll want us. I'll make them need us… fear us… obey us."_

"Ah dun need anah a dat. Tha masta take care ah me." Xainia professed, secure in her relationship.

_"You'll see…" _the voice faded.

Xainia shrugged off the strange presence and continued riding. It took her some time to cross the vastness of Desolace, her raptor becoming tired and running slower. Night had fully fallen by the time she reached the entrance to the ravine. The strong moonlight in the clear sky that reflected off the grey sand made it very easy to see down the ravine. As Xainia made to head into the ravine, she noticed someone standing in her way. The face was familiar, but it was not her master. The figure leered at her along with its felhunter, raising its staff for battle. It was the warlock that she had met in Felwood; Selima.

--------------

Soon after Telina had thought of where Xainia could be, the symbol was completed. It was a seven sided shape with a seven pointed star in the center and spiraling shapes coming out from it. At each vertex, there was a circle for one of the members to stand in.

"Despite this being a ritual governed by demonic magics, the land upon which is it performed must be purified; this is why we must ask aid of druids. The elements must also be kept at bay, so we need the aid of the shamans. Then there is this." Maldelic drew the strange blue crystal from his pouch. "This crystal is what binds her soul. It may only be broken by very strong channeling of arcane and shadow magics. Finally, when the... subject… arrives, she must be kept alive by our priest. I may not be present at this ceremony. I cannot break this binding of my own will, the crystal is beyond that."

"Consider it a price for you to pay for using an artifact beyond your training, young warlock." Nerub'rekan warned. "Control shards for your kind are only meant to be used by us; this is why I never gave one to you." The spider turned to Ranilok. "Once again, your fault. Oh, I would relish the day that you cross me again. Once more and every service you have done my people will be obliterated... you will be mine."

Much of the group looked disturbed again at the spider bickering with the elf. It was evident that they had quite an interesting past. A normal group would have broken at such stress, but the favors they owed to the master or their involvement kept them from leaving the area. More time passed while they tolerated each other, but soon they all began to wonder where the young priestess was.

"Where is your subject, Methuselah? My time is precious." Neru'Rekan pressured the less powerful warlock.

Maldelic concentrated for a moment then a slightly grave look appeared on his face. He had not been paying attention to his pupil. "Something is happening at the entrance to the ravine. We may need to interrupt it."

Meanwhile at the entrance to Shadowbreak Ravine, Selima confronted the priest. The warlock was dressed in her full battle clothing, ready to erase the insignificant pet from existence.

"Where do you think you are going, harlot of the shadows?" The warlock challenged her.

"Wha ya askin me dat?" Xainia questioned.

"So polite this time? Going to try to lie and say you are a priest of light again?" Selima jeered at the shadow priest.

Selima had waited for the time to be right; for a time when she could do something to hurt both Maldelic and Xainia. Revenge would be so sweet against someone she viewed with such venom. Now was the moment, she had followed Xainia from Orgrimmar so that she could destroy her alone in the grey dunes and then pursue the one who would so readily dominate another being's will.

"Dun be in mah way." Xainia said calmly.

"A threat?" Selima challenged her, extending her dragon-headed staff towards the priestess.

"Ah dun want ta fight ya." Xainia tried to continue on, but she was suddenly bit by a burning feeling; Selima was attacking.

Quickly calling upon her soul for protection, Xainia rid herself of the foul warlock spell. She began to try to burn away at Selima's energy, but it was to no avail. The skilled warlock simply returned her energy at the cost of some life.

"You burn away my energy like it is yours! I'll have it back." Selima motioned with her hands and suddenly began to steal Xainia's energy directly.

Finding herself barely able to keep her protection up, Xainia was almost out of options. She quickly used the rest of her energy to dispose of the felhunter before it got involved.

"You'll pay for that! No one destroys my demons." Selima continued to attack Xainia.

Atop the ravine, the master explained more to the group. "She cannot come into contact with me; someone else must go."

Telina sighed. "I will do it." She turned towards the entrance, moving away and muttering something about it being her job anyway.

Neru'Rekan sent more shadows after her for entertainment as she walked away. The druid felt it and was surprised such a powerful being was so easily amused.

As Telina headed down, the battle continued to rage. Finally, running out of energy completely, Xainia fell to one knee. Selima looked slightly haggard from converting her life into energy, but she had the upper hand.

Xainia, as drained as she was, was still not injured. "Wha ya doin dis?" She jumped forward and tackled Selima.

Selima cast a fearful shadow spell at Xainia, making her run away momentarily. "You cannot be forgiven for what you've done. You gave up your own free will."

Telina came to a stop on a rock above the two, listening in briefly. Xainia recovered herself and stood a distance from Selima.

"Ah made ah choice... an ah've killed Hakkar wit His help. How can ya be blind ta wat's happend?" The priestess regained control of herself and ran at the warlock again.

"Selima, did you even know her before he came along? There was no will to give..." Telina thought of the memories that she had seen.

"I'll make quick work of you now, and then I'll move on to your master. I can sense it… he is near." Selima drew a shard out of her bag with great speed and began to weave a gigantic ball of fire around it.

The druid sighed once more, looking around and muttering something, moving her hands over the ground. The ground underneath Selima began to creep about and grow plants.

"That's it! Let your focus on revenge make you blind..." Telina muttered as vines broke out of the ground and wrapped around the warlock's legs.

Selima noticed the vines suddenly. "You can't stop this spell from finishing you! Even if you have someone helping you, you're dead!"

"Ah had enough ah dis." Xainia raised her hand and made a motion across her mouth. Immediately, the spell dissipated.

Selima tried to speak. " .. ..."

"Nah mah talking fa ya. Dis be dah second time… Ya tink ya might learn ah sometin." Xainia turned and walked away from the warlock.

Telina chuckled and then forced a vine to wrap around the Warlock's arms, binding them to each side.

"I'm sorry, Selima, but this is for your own good. I'm not going to let your lust for blood and vengeance destroy this moment."

Back atop the ravine, the master made the final preparations for the ceremony. "She is past this challenge. I must go. Not only may I not destroy the crystal, but if I were here I would be bound to interfere in the ritual. Neru'Rekan, my companions, I hold any debts you have owed me fulfilled if this ritual succeeds. Ranilok, send me somewhere far away."

"The dead city should suffice." Ranilok began to make a portal.

"Goodbye." Maldelic turned to the group.

Ranilok opened the portal on top of Maldelic, not allowing him to even choose to enter. The warlock fell through the hole in existence and landed across the world. Neru'rekan reached forward over the symbol and slammed the crystal into the ground at its center, planting it firmly.

"Are you alright, Master?" The tauren approached from the side of the ravine and offered a hand to the one she guarded.

As they walked into the ravine, Xainia looked up at Telina. "Telinah? Wha ya doin here?"

"I'm making sure you're alright, come on, let's go." The druid rushed her master along.

Xainia continued to follow, not knowing what was going on at all. As the two approached the ritual site, the spider began to weave enchantments around the crystal.

"Where is that druid? We must all be present to begin and this blood is beginning to congeal." Neru'rekan was slightly irate.

"I'm here, Neru..." Telina said as she approched the spider from behind, Xainia following further back.

Xainia looked very bewildered to the crowd and seemed to be pausing every few moments. Inside her mind, she was terrified of this moment.

_"You see… they are here to take your master away from you."_ The voice chided her.

"Nah, tha masta nevah leave." Xainia almost shook visible as she approached the group.

Laughing again, the voice argued back_. "But he will… and then… what will you do?"_

"'e won… ah know it." Xainia continued to think, almost at the symbol.

Telina took her place in the circle. More concerned with the ritual now, the spider refrained from sadistically poking the shadow-prone druid.

"Druids, begin the ceremony, cleanse the land." The spider commanded.

Xainia saw Telina scowl silently at the spider, but the tauren followed his command, bowing her head in a gesture of obedience to her as she did. Ic'nay brought forth the spirits of nature to cleanse this small blood-soaked patch of land, using the spiritual side of druidism for his task. Kneeling down, Telina put her hands to the ground. The druid rubbed the earth, as if calming a restless animal, while she mouthed ancient words of purification. Though both of them were druids, the ways that they practiced were as far apart as possible. In response to the druids, the land turned from a corrupt shade of purple to a verdant green. As this change occurred, the crystal at the center of the shape suddenly shot up, drawing energy from the ground. The structure thinned as it expanded and grew to be nearly ten feet tall. The lines of blood solidified into crystal as the shape grew, causing the symbol to be marked into the land forever.

Xainia was strangely drawn to the crystal. As she approached, the deep blue markings across her skin lit up. The young troll's face was full of fear, but she was only drawn towards this monolith more with each step. Telina closed her eyes as Xainia's markings began to glow. The rampant shadows in the area made the druid's skin sting and burn, but it didn't stop the purification rite. Inside the crystal, a life-size image of Xainia seemed to be suspended. The figure could be half-seen through the walls of the crystal. Malakai looked very riveted by the whole event; it was indeed worth his time to attend. Raising a dirtied hand to her face, Telina wiped away a tear before returning to her work; the power was brining back bad memories for her. Clouds began to form around the site as fires sparked to life on the edges of the rise they were on. Quickly acting, the shamans called to the elements to allow them this ritual and stay away.

"Wha... wha dis? " Xainia muttered, grabbing onto the crystal.

_"It is where you lose him." _The voice in her head spoke again

"You have come to a point of change, child. You will no longer be controlled and dominated by a master. As much as I would like to see your kind enslaved, this service I must perform." Neru'rekan spoke darkly to the troll.

Telina grunted where she was, visibly holding herself back from attacking the spider, her hands becoming clawed momentarily. The druid was astounded that the spider would put in his own thoughts in the middle of such an important ceremony.

"But... no... ah canna do dis. He wouldn wan it." Xainia protested.

"It will be done. Prepare yourself." The spider allowed for no failure, almost entertained that this would make the troll unhappy.

Meanwhile in the Undercity, Maldelic felt the crystal nearing destruction. As much as he would have been uninvolved, a frenzied feeling from the crystal gripped him and he ran for the zeppelin. While running, the warlock checked his pouch for the blue crystal as if he had not known that he had left it in the ravine. The words of Telina came across his mind as he ran to the elevators. The tauren had told him that Xainia would collapse without his support and he had given her away without even thinking it possible. The crystal exaggerated the small doubts that he had into mind-shattering reasons to rush back to the side of his pupil.

In Shadowbreak, the spider nodded to the priest to begin healing. Malakai picked up his strongest spells of light and kept a careful watch.

"Ranilok, begin your channeling… or I will gouge out your eyes." Neru'Rekan ordered.

Shrugging off the threat, the blood elf called forth the arcane magic that flowed through him and attacked the crystal with them. Immediately, Xainia begin to be affected by the spell, Malakai had to work quickly to keep her from falling. The arcane magic swirled around the crystal in one direction. As soon as the pattern picked up, Neru'Rekan began to channel powerful shadows. The shadow locked in an opposite spiral creating a helix of nether energies about the shape. Telina felt the strain of shadow tainting the very air and land around her, grunting as it came in full force and then channeling the power of nature to combat it. Malakai too wavered under the strain on trying to constantly keep the troll alive. Slowly, the crystal turned from a blue shade to a color of white. The shape inside of it began to pass out of it and descend on Xainia. By this time, the master was on the zeppelin, confusing passersby as he beat on the motor box, trying in vain to make it go faster. The blue patterns across Xainia's skin slowly began to erase, she felt inside like she was being released from a harness that had held her securely in the air for so long.

"I can't let this be… I know this separation." Maldelic fell to one knee and put his arms tightly around himself, gripped by emotions that the dead should not feel. Sounding more human than he ever had in his time as a forsaken, Maldelic continued to rant. "She felt it… my love… she felt it when I sent her back to Quel'thelas so that I could defeat Kemdri! She… she was left alone without me and I didn't give it a second thought. I've done it again… I've done it again, damnit!" the undead searched his bags with fervor for something that could take him closer to the ravine. "The druid was right… I've let myself only be concerned for her powers! I haven't given her true emotions any care! Without me… she'll not be able to deal with her own memories even. All of my work will be lost!"

Thinking quickly, Maldelic took out an engineering device that the goblins had sold him and quickly pressed buttons on it to activate it. The warlock blinked across the world and looked at his surroundings in a rushed manner. The unbeating heart of the forsaken sank as he realized he was in Everlook and in essence no closer than he had been a moment ago.

In desperation, he tried to contact his pupil through both the ways he had learned as her master and through normal magic. "Xainia… please… take care of yourself." The voice he spoke to her with sounded human. "Never give up! Never let your mind become lost! You have control of all of your powers, control them!"

"No... masta... don't. Ah can't... ah don't know wha tah do." The troll almost cried in the ravine, knowing that the voice was her master even though it was different. The shape of Xainia's soul joined her body slowly as the ritual neared completion.

In a final burst of power, the crystal shattered into white sand. Across the world, Maldelic fell to one knee again. As if he was having a mortal heart attack, he paused and held his chest. The feeling did not last long, but it was large enough that it would have killed a regular mortal.

"It is done... her fate is now her own." The frenzy left him; he was freed from the crystal now too. "I only hope that I have made the right choice." The clarity that Maldelic had gained while the frenzy held him was still evident. "I was a fool… but at least she is no longer stuck in Durotar waiting to die." The undead turned towards the city's flight master so that he could find his way back to Lordaeron eventually and far away from anywhere that Xainia might be.

The shadows cleared and the air began to return to normal in the ravine. Xainia wept and then fell unconscious. Feeling Xainia's thoughts and emotions, Telina reached out to her adopted master, calling to her. Touching the troll's forehead, Telina saw the racing thoughts inside of it as the body lay prone. All the druid could see was the racing feelings; the mind of her 'master' was like a frightened animal. None of the others could understand why Xainia would weep at this event. Telina sat hunched forward, gasping deeply, her dirtied hands holding Xainia up.

Slowly turning to the party, the spider removed some trinkets from his robe and spoke. "It is finished."

Telina continued to cradle her master, still able to feel her thoughts and emotions with ease. Okquina approached a moment later, sitting down to tend to the troll that she had also protected at a time.

"So sentimental… how humanoid." The spider began to cast a returning spell and looked to Ranilok as he faded. "Your days are numbered, elf."

Telina paid the Spider no attention this time, continuing to focus on the troll. "It's done, Xainia..." Telina whispered, closing her eyes.

"I leave this matter to those of you who know this troll. I must return; they will miss my presence at Thunder Bluff. This was a truly amazing day." Malakai disappeared just after the warlock had fully faded, calling upon his hearthstone.

"I cannot remain in this tainted land." Ic'nay looked to Hasur, Telina, Okquina, and Ranilok. "I wish you luck with this troll; trolls are truly the root of life." The druid focused on Ranilok alone. "I pity the withered bush that your race has made from the root given to you."

"Withered bush? Fool. We don't descend from trolls." Ranilok called after Ic'nay as the strange druid left towards Ferlas once more. "He'll succumb to magic one day… he'll see the light. Now that this strange business is over… to Silvermoon." Ranilok cast a teleportation spell on himself as he muttered, caring much more for his own skin than for the rest of the group.

Okquina, Hasur, and Telina remained now. Looking to them, Telina questioned why they hadn't left so quickly. "Are you going to go too?"

"We'll stay in touch with how she's doing. One is more than enough to care for her at the moment. I am glad things are finally set right." Okquina let Telina hold Xainia as she rose and went to Hasur's side.

"Take care of her. I am sure she'll need it for a while since she has lost Maldelic." Hasur advised.

Telina nodded. "It is time for her to rest...farewell, Okquina, Hasur." The Druid bowed her head to each of them, then turned and started on the way back to Orgrimmar, carrying the troll over her shoulder.

_"He is gone… see… I told you." _The voice tormented Xainia again as the visions that had once troubled her danced in her head. The visions had been thoroughly beaten, but Xainia's sadness at the loss of her master summoned them forth once more.

"He is… ah… ah dun know what tah do." Xainia looned around slowly for the voice in her mind, curling up and hugging her knees as she did.

Suddenly, the dancing visions of death halted and sunk to the ground as a shadowy version of Xainia rose up before her and approached slowly. The source of the voice in her mind sat before her and extended a limb made of shadow from her aura, petting Xainia's hair reassuringly.

_"I do. I will make the world know our power… I will show you the way." _The shadowy presence smiled devilishly, formulating more to say. _"Everything your master once did… I can fulfill for you. I am you… I am the part of you that you have hidden from for your entire life. I come from your hate… your sorrow… your need for revenge. I am your reason to live! I will use your willpower to make the world respect us! If you let me in… you'll be complete!"_

Not processing the weight of what the shadow said in her sadness, Xainia laid back on the imagined ground in her mind. At this sign of surrender, the shadow leaned down and picked her up, cradling her as Telina had only moments before. Xainia was powerful enough to survive on her own, unlike the shadow had told her. She had the will to embrace the mission that she had completed, but as both Telina and the Master had feared, her dependence on Maldelic for what to do in the world had blinded her. Even the times that she had used the light as her weapon and the moments that everyone had warned her to always keep the upper hand over the shadow meant nothing now. A sorrow of separation that was as deep as Xainia's made rationality a distant dream.

_"Now, it is my time." _The shadow image and the light image disappeared as Xainia's consciousness surfaced towards the real world.

As Telina approached the exit of the ravine, Xainia suddenly faded into shadowform.

Sliding out of the druids grasp she looked strange, meaner. The troll began to walk away slowly, not looking back towards her protector.

"...Xainia?" Telina called out, but the troll did not turn. Telina moved quickly, following behind her. "Master?"

The shadowy figure still didn't stop at this call. Walking right past the still bound warlock at the entrance to the ravine, she smiled evilly. The druid reached for Xainia's shoulder, ignoring the pain that the shadows wrought. Without caring the results, she grabbed gently, trying to steer Xainia away from the enemy.

Shrugging the hand off, Xainia spoke to Selima. "See, yah futah's end. Dis be mah time nah." The troll left Selima and moved away much faster now, calling her raptor and riding away.

Selima turned to Telina, frowning at the druid. "You have no idea what you've done. You should have let me kill her."

"Whatever she does… it's only important to me that she's alive." Telina turned away, calling her own mount to her, and following after the shadowy troll.

Unfortunately for Telina, the priest was nowhere to be found. Xainia had ridden off boldly, completely immersed in the shadows, into a fate now determined by this chaotic energy.


	8. Zilis

**Chapter 8: ****Zilis**

As read from the work board outside the Orgrimmar inn:

Help Wanted

Hallo. Ah be gatherin friends of tha horde ta make ah trip ta tha forest troll city of Jintha'alor. We be headin all tha way ta tha ampitheata atop ta visit where mah parents last stood... ...

"_We be __goin__ta__ kill every one ah __dem__ dam cannibal trolls in __da__ city. Not ah single one be __survivin__ when we done. We __gonna__ need an army __a__ least! We demand an army. __Dey__be__ destroyed __fa__ what __dey__ did, __fa__helpin__Hakkar__! Sack __tha__ city! Burn __tha__ city! Even __da__warchief__ hates forest __trolls,__ya__ all should hate __em__ too! We __be__meetin__ in __tha__ courtyard of __tha__ dead city an __ridin__ on horseback __ta__Jintha'alor__Da__ march __be__ starting __tah__ weeks from __Sundah__ past __da__ midday.__Signed - Shadow Priestess __Xainia_

The letter was very strange, as if written by two different people. It had been posted at the inn for some time and the date on which the march was to start was quickly approaching. The only problem was that the knowledge of the letters existence to its creator was very debatable.

"Ah no, ah blacked out again." Xainia woke up in the Ring of Valor in Orgrimmar. The days and nights flowed together for Xainia now. Sometimes when she awoke she heard the voice from the ravine prodding her to go somewhere, or she just felt that she had to do something. When the voice wasn't present, Xainia was completely carefree as she had been before her parents died.

The Ring of Valor in Orgrimmar was always empty. No one knew why the building still stood, but because it has been abandoned, Xainia found it to be a nice place to live. No one bothered her within its walls and no one associated with her – just as the shadow wanted. Oftentimes, Xainia would dance to melodies that she had heard in town or on her travels while she was alone. The priestess could only truly relax in the presence of such freedom and the lack of inhibition-bearing eyes.

On this day, something felt different about the arena as she danced. Xainia spun around towards the entrance just as a song that she was thinking of picked up its pace and saw another figure standing by the arena door. Getting against the wall under the large awning in the ring, Xainia watched carefully and hoped that the figure hadn't been watching her.

The second figure was a troll by skin color and a female one from the tusk length. She was wearing a suit of black leather armor with silver threading. Two sharp looking weapons and a wolf's head mask completed the outfit, arguing that this troll was some sort of assassin or fighter. The troll glanced around, looking for others aside from the troll that she had noticed move to the wall. She had one hand on a weapon, as if expecting a fight. Xainia continued to keep an eye on the new being, removing a roasted quail from her bag and gnawing on it.

Continuing around the ring, the masked troll checked for anyone that might be hiding behind pillars or in the sand pit. Her gaze never left Xainia for too long, which irked the priestess extremely; she had probably bee found dancing. Speaking for the first time, the troll mused about the arean and the pit. "Glahdiahtahs..."

Venturing to be the first to speak, Xainia challenged the troll for entering the arena. "Whatcha be 'ere fah?"

The troll made her way out of the pit, knowing she'd have to rely on talking instead of stabbing now; her target was nowhere to be found. Lowering her weapons, the assassin approached Xainia. "Ah be lookin' fer da Gladiatah ring… Dis it?" A voice came from the unmoving mask.

"Yah, dis be it. Nahbodah fight 'ere. Ah live 'ere alone." Xainia scooted her bags closer, so that they were all in reach.

The assasin's eyes narrowed, unseen behind the mask. "Nah fights 'ere?"

"Nah. Dis place be shut down." Xainia repeated, not liking the untrusting nature of the troll before her.

In an unexpected reaction, the troll sheathed her daggers and approached closer; it was obvious that she didn't consider Xainia a threat. "Ah see. Ahn why do ya live 'ere all bai yahself?"

"Because ah like dah quiet. Ah like not bein disturbed." Xainia pulled her knees against her chest; a much safer position to be sitting in with the other troll nearby.

"Be 'dere anah fightin' arenas 'round 'ere?" The assassin inquired further, not caring about Xainia's reasons and only wanting information.

"Nah in dis part ah da world. Dere be dat one in the jungles." Xainia spoke with her chin rested on her knees. "Sah yah lookin fah fightin arenas?"

Still pressing the issue, the troll stepped closer as if to impose information out of Xainia. The wolf mask that the assassin wore seemed to glare as she asked again. "Ya sure dere be nahwhere in dah citah?"

"Nah. sorrah." Xainia was drawn to the troll for a reason that she could hardly explain. "Yah be a rogue by how yah look. What be yah name? Yah tryin tah hunt somebodah down ah sometin?"

Peering suspiciously at Xainia again, the assassin was reluctant to answer; any assassin who let loose information about his or her self could throw away the upper echelon of assignments and jobs. Nevertheless, the mysterious assassin felt compelled to answer. "It be Zilis, but dun yah be tellin anahbodah."

"Ahk, mah name be Xainia. Sah yah lookin fah fightin arenas ah sometin?" The priestess went back to finding out information from Zilis.

"Xainia yah say?" Zilis looked surprisedly at the troll, thinking about something. Looking over Xainia for a moment again, Zilis sniffed at her, the nose on the mask moving as a live wolf's would. Zilis looked thoroughly puzzled by what she was able to sense, and dismissed the passing thoughts. "Ah sah yah dancin ova 'ere."

"Ya did?" The expression on Xainia's face changed to an undiginifed one as she stood up her full height, which was slightly taller than Zilis'. "Why yah do dat? Yah not supposed tah see dat."

"Well yah not supposed tah know mah name, but yah do." Zilis countered the comment quickly, stepping back into a more defensive position.

"Well den ah jus be goin if yah gonnah be like dat. Ah gottah go tah da Undahcitah." Xainia rose and headed for the door to the arena, put off by the way that the rogue was behaving.

Still thinking that there might be information to gain, Zilis turned and followed the reclusive priest. "Why dah Unahcita?" The rogue continued to follow. "An how yah gonna get dere?"

Xainia walked ahead of the rogue at a brisk pace for a while, heading towards the cleft of shadows. The priest was rather unconcerned for who followed her, because for some inexplicable reason she felt that she needed to be in the Undercity. The capital of the dead had never held any draw for her before, but it did now for reasons she could not recall. Once they had entered the cleft, Zilis finally sprinted a tiny bit to catch up with her prey.

"So how ya getting dere?" Zilis asked again. "Dis not be da way tah da front ah dah citah."

As Zilis asked this question, an undead that was standing around in the cleft of shadow noticed the priestess and almost gained a look of fear. Overhearing that the priestess was bound for the Undercity, the mage quickly cast a portal for her to enter.

"Ah… Big tanks." Xainia said, stepping through the minor hole in reality.

Soon to follow, Zilis took advantage of the free trip. "How did ya do dat? 'e was lookin 'fraid ah ya."

"Dam ya fallah me all da way here?" Xainia motioned around them. They were both in the Undercity now, Xainia immediately headed north towards the war quarter of the city. "An ah just thought 'e was bein nice. People been doin tings like dat an ah dun knah why." The priestess mentioned in passing.

After walking for a while longer, the two began to hear the sounds of fighting nearby. The guards were not alerted, so it wasn't an attack. Zilis immediately became more aware, the ears on her mask perking up and moving to catch the sound.

"What dat be?" Zilis tried to peek ahead a bit while not losing track of the priestess.

"Dat be a 'ittle group ah undead dat always be fightin fah practice." Xainia still looked slightly miffed. "What it mean tah yah? Yah gotta still be fallahin me fah ah reason."

"Ah course… dat mus be it." Zilis examined her surroundings carefully for a moment, the eyes on her mask almost glowing as she went over every crack and passage. Moving back to the priestess, Zilis locked her stare on Xainia. "Dis be perfect."

Now confused, Xainia looked skeptically at Zilis. "Perfect? Dey just stand dere doin dat all day. Now why yah fallah me?"

"Oh cause ah want help yah ah course." Zilis suddenly changed her tone towards Xainia. "But ah need yah tah help me wit sometin first."

"Yah dun even know what ah be doin here. How can ya be helpin me?" Xainia was still very untrusting of the troll. Those who had helped her before were true, even though she could not remember their names to save her life. The troll she spoke to was definitely not selfless as help was required to get help back.

Zilis smiled, knowing that the attention she had paid to the conversation would now pay off. "Well yah dun knah what ya be doin 'ere eithah, sah yah might as well be helpin me."

Realizing that she truly didn't, the priestess begrudgingly agreed. "Ah guess…" Xainia knew that she had nothing better to do at the moment and was easily influencable upon losing the argument. "What ah gotta do?"

"Jus keep walkin past da group an read dis aloud." Zilis handed Xainia a strange looking incantation. "Ah take care ah dah rest."

Shrugging, Xainia continued to walk around the circle and try to pronounce whatever was on the parchment. The priestess could tell that the words of the spell were holy in nature, but it was written in a language she didn't understand. Wondering why the rogue had this spell, Xainia absentmindedly repeated it as she crossed behind the fight club. Xainia was sure to make a mental note that the rogue would owe her for this.

Suddenly, the priestess was brought back from her wandering thoughts by an outburst from the fight club. One of the undead lurched forwards and grabbed his head, his form twisting and growing. The rest of the fighters moved away quickly as the two main fighters, Edward and Tyler, dispatched their target and moved to the opposite side with the others. Xainia looked back to Zilis for an explanation, but the rogue was nowhere to be seen.

"Gah. Wat be goin on?" Xainia looked to the screaming undead as cold clouds of frost magic swirled around it.

"Damn you! You ruined my disguise! You'll die, as will all of these other worthless free undead!" The figure that yelled had taken on the form of a skeletal lich, and one that was clearly under the influence of the Lich King.

The lich attempted to strike out at Xainia, but before it got far it was stopped by numerous hits in the back. Zilis had positioned herself behind the lich and was destroying him rapidly amidst the confusion. Joining in, the entire membership of the fight club began to beat on the lich. Xainia was the only one not fighting; she kept her cool and stood off to the side, annoyed at being used in such a way. Without much trouble, the lich was dispatched; it was obviously not a powerful agent of the scourge, but an agent nonetheless. Zilis' employers would be pleased with the lich's death. The lich's phylactery sat on the ground, but didn't survive more than a moment as the fighters destroyed it and shuffled the contents into the river of waste that flowed through the outer ring of the city.

Smiling and picking up a piece of the phylactery as proof of her kill, Zilis looked to Xainia. "Hehe, big tanks." The troll blew a kiss to the bait she had used and began to run off.

"Hey! Yah not be getting away wit dis." Xainia followed quickly, feeling completely cheated and used now.

Knowing that she was more agile and quick, Zilis began to sprint off from the priest. A hot feeling suddenly hit Zilis as she felt herself slowed dramatically. The spell didn't last for long as Xainia piled into her a moment later and sent both of them tumbling into the disgusting green-colored river that the fighters had shoved the lich's bones into.

"Gyah!" Zilis exclaimed, realizing what she was swimming in. The troll moved to the inner side of the circle as quickly as she could, trying to get away from the angry priestess and vanish into the crowd somewhere. It had been careless of her to run away like a common thief after taking the phylactery instead of vanishing at that point. Zilis reached the other side of the river, but was greeted by another sight that she didn't expect.

"Yah be goin somewah?" Xainia was floating above the surface of the river, keeping the high ground over the rogue.

"Ah could dissappeah and be gone at anah time yah knah. Dun tink dat because yah floatin up dere dat it do anahting fah yah." Zilis pulled herself out of the disgusting river, but stopped on the steps as Xainia addressed her.

"Sah ya jus gonna leave like dat? Wha bout sayin dat ya'd help me? Yah owe me big fah dat. Ah hardly know yah, yah fallah me all da way 'ere... den yah use me as bait. Ya dun even feel sorrah?"

Leveling with the priestess, Zilis decided to grant her an explanation. "Ah kint afford tah feel sorrah, mon!" The rogue stood to her fullest, as if trying to intimidate the floating priestess back. The pose only lasted a moment as Zilis felt a bit of regret for her actions. Beginning to clean off her gear, Zilis decided to stay for at least a short time.

"Dat jus seems sah cold. Ah not be losin track ah yah till ya explain yahself at least." Xainia looked towards the inner ring of the city for a place they could speak in private. "Yah come with me. Ah know ah place dat we kin talk."

Relieved that she wouldn't have to take off her mask to clean it with so many others around, Zilis removed her hands from where they had been on the edges of her mask and followed. The two went to a corner on the inner side of the outer ring of the city. All of the merchant areas had a slightly low ceiling, but no one ever bothered to think what was above them. Scaling the uneven bricks and holding onto the cracks, Xainia hoisted herself up onto the second level above the merchants. This part of the Undercity was unfinished and left to rot more than the inhabitants of the lands above. Cave moss had begun to grow on some of the inner walls and empty crates and barrels decorated the scene.

Seeing that Zilis made it up first, Xainia walked across the ring to a raised stoop on the inner side of it and began to lay out wood from her bags for a fire. "Sah, where were yah?" The priestess pushed her astranged companion to continue.

Zilis wiped the last of the vile slime from her sleek gloves, and then tilted her head, allowing some of the slime to leak out of the Wolf helm's ear. The helm seemed to growl in annoyance, but it stopped making expressions in such a pronounced manner as Zilis removed it. Without the mask, Zilis' wolf-like orange and yellow eyes were visible along with her deep blue hair. To facilitate her job, the assasin's hair was tightly braided into dreadlocks. "Wha'chu expect? Ah gahts ah job tah do, ah gotta be cold blooded."

Thinking about the response, Xainia followed Zilis' hand as the assasin put her hand to her head and scratched her ear. Writing was visible on the smallest ring that pierced the assasin's flesh. "Dat helm be interestin." Xainia moved her focus from the ring to its owner.

"It be ah Shamon's helm..ah had it ah long long time..." Zilis chuckled. "It be real..'da spirit ah 'da wolf be imbued in 'ere." The assasin tapped the helm lightly, and it growled in protest.

After getting over her amazement on the helm, Xainia continued the conversation. "Sah den how yah be actin sah cold... Wolves not be cold like dat alla dah time."

"Yah nevah seen ah lone Wolf, 'ave ya?" Zilis finished brushing all of the mess from the helm and pouring some flasks of water over it. "Like ah said...'dere be tings ah ghadda do in 'dis line ah work..ah 'ave tah be cold sometimes...ahs sorrah fer makin' off like 'dat, 'doh."

"Well dat be good dat yah be sorrah. Yah knah… ah been alone as long as ah remembah tah." Xainia tried to think for a moment, but became distracted by Zilis' cleaning of the mask. "Somebodah showed me once dat yah dun hafta be gettin sometin out ah helpin somebodah. Ah forget who... but yah seem tah not be thinkin ah da value ah dat."

Zilis paused a moment, looking up from the mask, but not at Xainia. "Ah knah, but ah rarely deal wid trustwortha people. Sah unfortunatlah ah end up seemin' untrutworthah mahself."

"Well ah hardly deal wit anahone. Why dun we be friends? Ah nevah had one ah dem an well… maybe yah could learn about reallah havin one." Xainia suggested, thinking she might be able to help the rogue as more than bait.

The assasin looked up at the priest, almost as if Xainia had struck a nerve, and then grinned as if bemused. "Sure...why nah."

"See? Dat was simple. Sah ya gonnah tell me why yah was afta dat lich?" Xainia still dearly wished to know whose bait she had been indirectly.

Even though no one was visibly around, Zilis leaned forward and whispered to Xainia. "'Da Argent Dawn sent meh."

"Oh.. ah heard ah dem." Xainia spoke back very calmly and quietly, slightly wary of how close Zilis had been to her in whispering.

Pulling back Zilis spoke in her normal tone of voice. "Needed some'un from 'da outside tah do some dirtah works fer 'dem."

"Well den ah glad tah help den... even if ah was dah bait. Jus tell me next time." Xainia smiled.

"Ah make sure tah do dat." Zilis smiled back for once; her face looked very innocent when she smiled without the mask.

During this entire time, Xainia had been preparing the small fire for them. Handing Zilis one of the many roasted quails in her bag, the priestess also took one and began to eat it. "Sah dun yah like it? Jus bein wit somebodah?"

Pondering the question honestly for a moment, Zilis tried to discern how she felt. "Well… it be good, but ah be tah involved wit mah missions tah do dis ah lot."

"Nah nevah say yah dun hav time fah friends. Ah dun even remembah half ah dah times dat go by, but ah knah ah wanted ah good friend dat ah could be countin on." Xainia thought deeply and explained between bites of food. "Yah see, ah came from East ah 'ere."

As Xainia spoke, images from her mind almost seemed to light up in the fire. Zilis' spiritual nature allowed her to notice them easily as her companion spoke. The sights were of the hinterlands, her parents, those that had cared for her as she fled for Kalimdor.

"Ah came ova 'ere years ahgo. Ah wan tah tell yah 'bout it, but dere be sah much dat gone on… but ah can't seem tah tink 'bout it." Pictures of Telina, Maldelic, and Selima lit up in the fire almost too quickly for Zilis to see as the priestess cut off the reminiscing and yawned. "Sah yah stay with me tahnight?" Xainia asked her friend.

"Yah, ah stay 'ere fah dah night den." Zilis decided, moved by the almost child-like spirit of Xainia.

"Dat be good because ah be getting tiahd." Xainia yawned and cast aside the remainder of the Quail. "Ah dunnah why, but ah be tired sah much… an everah time ah wake up, it be like ah haven't been awake fah ages." The priestess admitted. "Ah dun even knah why ah came tah dis citah.

Thinking about this in relation to her previous thoughts about the priestess, Zilis came up with a short answer. "Dat be strange, but ah got tah tink bout it more."

"Yah. but.. ah can't seem tah care eitha." Xainia smiled weakly, lying down by the edge of the raised platform on the ring.

Walking over and lying on the ground too, Zilis supported herself on one elbow and looked down at Xainia. "Ah tink ah like yah. Ah dun knah why ah feel like dis, but ah help yah out… fah free… because yah be mah friend."

"Ah…" Xainia yawned again. "Dat be nice." The priestess closed her eyes and passed out.

Zilis looked into the fire for a moment, feeling slightly more vulnerable than she had in a while. Not only had this troll seen her face, but she'd also proclaimed to help and befriend the priestess after having barely met her. Such actions seemed unwise, but Zilis knew they were right and she liked them so far. A woosh of air moving drew Zilis' gaze back towards Xainia. The assasin wondered if her friend was suddenly awake again, but then jumped up as she saw Xainia was completely missing.

"Yah... Oh ah got a nice bit ah payback tah wreak on yah." A voice came from behind Zilis, it sounded like Xainia except with a darker inflection.

Zilis' eyes grew wide, thinking that some relation to a target had found her. The troll quickly swept her leg long around behind her, trying to trip anyone on that side of her. At the same time, she flipped her helmet back on in a single motion and glared at whatever was behind her.

To Zilis' surprise, a shadowy version of Xainia stood behind her and glared with a look of malignancy and hate. Shrugging it off, Zilis spoke candidly. "Sah yah be ah shadah priest? Yah dun need tah startle me like dat tah say it. Ah knew dere was more tah yah."

"Ah dun't know what dat… impyahent… child said tah yah, but Ah don't have time fah games. Yah must have kept 'er awake and nah my enerjah is low because ah yah." The shadowy Xainia growled angrily

The wolf's head mask glared back, hateful towards the shadowy energy coming from the priestess. "Yah been dah one jus talkin about friends? Wha dis be now?" Zilis tried to remain reasonable.

"Friends? Ah have nah friends… Ah dun need any. Dah onlah ting dat Ah need is mahself… Ah can do it all and Ah will do it all! What a nuisance… Ah'll be rid ah dat child soon enough." Xainia corrected Zilis, looking her over as if for the first time. "An assasin… what ah yah doing talkin' 'bout friends? Yah not sah different from me… cold hahted, murdahing, viahlent... tah bad dat it means onlah one ah us can survive dis."

Looking at the hateful troll differently, Zilis' hands neared her blades. "Ya dam parasite. Ah promised tah 'elp mah friend an nah ah be doin dat by drivin yah out."

"Yah tink yah can send me ahway?" Xainia laughed in a horridly frightening fashion. "Ah cannah die. Ah am dah futah fah dis one… Ah am dah end ah dah child dat she clings tah."

"She dun even knah yah exist den." Zilis argued back, the rage of the wolf stirring within her. "How can yah be ha futah if she dun even knah yah?"

The shadow laughed again, but looked slightly pained. "It's tah late fah hah… she surrendah tah me. Nah give me yah enahgy… ah demand it."

"What kind ah ah demand dat be?" Zilis stepped back and held out her blades.

"Yah kept 'er up an nah ah got nah powah… sah give me yah's" The shadow tried to cast a draining spell, but the darkness started fading from her fingertips. "Dam yah… Dun intahfere ahgin! Yah interfere ahgin an ah kill yah!"

With a light thud, Xainia fell to the ground and the shadows left her. The rage completely left Zilis as she rushed to her friend and shook her to wake her up. The rogue took off her helmet again, concerned for her friend deeply. "Xai, wake up."

Opening her eyes slowly, Xainia looked up a Zilis. "Why yah wake me up? Ah was havin ah… well ah dun remembah dreamin."

"Yah not been dreamin, dere some shadah ah yah dat be tryin tah take yah ova!" Zilis tried to tell Xainia what was going on.

"Wat yah be sayin? Ah can't 'ear yah." Xainia strained, looking tired.

As Zilis was about to speak, the dark voice of the shadow spoke into Zilis' mind. Without its body, the voice was much clearer than when spoken by a troll. _"You fool. I am in control here. She won't hear you… so you can just leave now. Soon… soon I'll have full control and it will be the end of you and everyone else __who__ would stand in my way."_

"Nevahmind." Zilis paused, silently swearing to herself to root out this evil spirit from her friend. "Ah tink yah gonna be ah'k. Yah mah friend an ah make sure ah it."

"Tank yah, Zil. Ah gah back tah sleep nah." Xainia laid back in Zilis' arms, almost as she had when Okquina had seen her across the sea from Lordaeron.

Staying awake and vigilant, Zilis found a comfortable position to move to without disturbing Xainia. Zilis had never encountered a force like the one that inhabited Xainia, but she knew that she couldn't sleep with it nearby. The rogue slipped her helmet back on and thought about what had happened. There was plenty of time to think until the morning, and Zilis was sure she'd have some solution by the time that the priestess awoke.


	9. The Cleansing of Jintha'alor

**Chapter 9: The Cleansing of ****Jintha'Alor**.

Xainia awoke the next morning on the upper ring of the Undercity alone. "Zilis?" Xainia looked around then frowned. "Maybe ah dreamed 'er up. Ah knew it wa tah nice ta be true."

_"Yes, most definitely too nice. Now come with me... my time."_ The shadowy voice spoke.

"Huh?" Xainia muttered as she faded into the shadows. She rose and headed out of the city by way of the main elevators, giving glares to the guards on the way up. Calling her raptor, Xainia rode quickly for the gate of the city and spoke softly to herself. "Now, what can ah kill befah ah have tah sleep again?"

Back on the upper ring, Zilis slowly climbed over the edge again with a bag in hand. Returned "Xainia..? Xai, ya be 'ere? Ah brought some food fer yah!"

By this time, Xainia had already begun riding down the road north of the Undercity. Knowing that the other troll had simply left to do something, the shadow muttered to itself while traveling."She tink she knah me. She be comin far tah close."

Zilis walked through to the inner side of the Undercity, unable to find her new friend. "Where cah she be...?" The troll had put the food back in her bags and was searching more intently now. Approaching one of the Deathstalkers, Zilis asked if her friend had been seen. "Ey, mon, ya seen ah Troll goin' outta 'ere? 'Bout 'dis tall...blue skin?" she held her hand about the same height as herself.

The Deathstalker nodded. "Yes, and if the look on her face had come from any other than her she would be dead."

Zilis looked worried, but she nodded. "When'd she leave?"

"Only moments ago, but I wouldn't follow her. The shadow priestess has no allies." The stalker commented in a jaded fashion.

"...Ah naw..." She looked at the undead. "Ah can handle 'er." Zilis shook her head then looked up solemnly. "Danks mon, ah gotta go!"

Zilis called her raptor and headed as quickly as she could out of the Forsaken capital city. Coming to a stop just outside of the Undercity, she fell to one knee. Inspecting the many ways that the gravel had been disturbed to make tracks, she sniffed the air. Catching Xainia's sent easily, she looked up. The air containing Xainia's sent became a faint red to her. She smiled and thanked the spirits before chasing after her friend.

Arriving at the Bulwhark some time later, Xainia looked around for something she could do. Remembering the 'noble mission' of the dawn, Xainia smiled greedily and thought of a nearby target.

"Ah, ha perfect. Hearthglen. Encourahged murda. Dere be plentah ah tings ta kill fa enahgy." She grinned in expectation and called her raptor to head off to the western plaguelands.

The teal raptor that Xainia owned had become irreversibly warped by the shadows. Unlike some more resilient and faster moving breeds of raptor, the teal raptor was prone to the shadows that poured from its master. As Xainia rode on the beast, her shadow spread to its body and its eyes lit up the same as hers. In addition to these physical changes, the beast looked wild and bloodthirsty, evidenced by it stumbling off the path and consuming squirrels and rabbits without breaking pace. Xainia laughed at how the beast changed; a perfect example of how physical forms were a slave to the shadows.

Back at the Undercity, Zilis sat cross legged at the path by the Zeppelin tower; she tried to concentrate on Xainia's tracks, but the movement was so erratic that she was getting lost. The shamanistic rogue's eyes were closed in a meditative state, pondering over the recent events. Visuals of Xainia's other self raced through her mind over and over, as if in slow motion. After meditating for a great time, Zilis sensed movement. A figure was coming up behind her slowly, she could tell from the noise that it was hooved and that it was attempting poorly to move with silence.

"Ya trying ta sneak up on meh, mon?" Zilis spoke to the creature behind her, without moving.

"Er...no, not at all… I'm looking for someone... maybe you've seen them?" The druid Telina inquired of the troll.

"'Ou yah be lookin' Fer?" Zilis asked in return, faintly recognizing the being that greeted her.

"A troll about your skin tone, red hair, done up rather nice, like this... er... about this tall.." The druid made several gestures.

Zilis blinked blankly at the tauren, who blushed. "'Dis Troll be 'avin' ah name, moness?"

Telina looked off to the side for a moment, considering her options, and then looked back to Zilis. "Xainia."

Zilis looked the druid over. "Xainia, eh?" The rogue stood up, turning around to face the tauren. "She knah yah… ah saw yah face in dah fire ah 'er memories. She gone 'dis way." Zilis responsed, pausing to think for a moment and then picking back up. "'Ou you know 'er?" Zilis questioned, having finally picked a general direction out of the trail.

The two called their mounts and began to ride off together as Telina explained some of her involvement with the priest. Zilis in turn told what she had known from her short adventure in the days before and where Xainia had gone. Sensing the wolf spirit within the rogue, Telina knew she would be moving quickly.

Reaching the Bulwhark some time later, Telina halted her mount. "She went into the plaguelands… can you see it?" The tauren was still following a trail.

"Yah, moness. Ah kin see exactly where she been goin." Zilis looked eager to move, not wanting to lose the trail.

"Do you mind staying together with me like this for a while? You are a rogue after all." Telina wanted to make sure that she had an ally before continuing.

"Ah nah be sah much of ah rogue if it be about Xainia. Ah swore tah mahself dat ah help mah friend." Zilis began to trot past the Bulwhark as Telina kept pace with her.

"Then you're the same as me, let's ride." Telina took off moving towards Hearthglen with the rogue following closely.

--------------

Hearthglen was the town which the good paladin, Prince Arthas, had protected before his fall. After the betrayal of the prince and the war, the town had risen as a bastion of the Scarlet Crusade, one of the only places purified of the plague in upper Lordaeron. This town was truly a contradiction to its plagued surroundings. Any living humans had flocked to it for protection from the undead, but unwittingly they were made to bolster the numbers of the crusade. Today, the shadows would visit the town as many others had been visited without Xainia's knowledge.

"Shamus, you look to have had a hard day, come sit by the fire. Dinner is almost ready." A townswoman greeted her troubled looking husband as he came into the house.

The man hung up his scarlet crusade tabard and sat. "Yes, some orcs tried to steal books from Mardenholde today. I don't know why we must stop them; they aren't dead. I even saw some of them ravaging Andorhal only last week." Shamus sighed.

"Shamus, don't speak like that. I know you never wanted to be here, but if an officer were to hear you, it would be the death of us." His wife was concerned.

"I know, I know. Hopefully we can get moved to the monastery and then find a way out of this cursed land, before our son is taken by the crusade."

A toddler turned over in a makeshift crib, having a late afternoon nap by the warm embers of the fire.

"Some of my comrades are so zealous, but I only wish we could have found other safe refuge. I just can't agree with some of the ideals they hold." Shamus rubbed his temples, having a slight headache for some reason.

"Yet you profess to be among our ranks for protection." An officer who had been outside the door barged in with his sword drawn. "If you are not one of us, you are our enemy."

"Mercy m'lord" The wife cried out.

"Dere be nah mercy fa anah yah. Tha shadah consumes all." Xainia entered the room behind the officer in a whirlwind of shadow.

The officer turned. "Alive? One… Two… Three…"

Xainia watched the officer count in the procedure that many crusaders used as she prepared several terrors for him.

"Six.. It hasn't proclaimed life! It must be undead! Die!" The officer charged the troll.

Catching his arm in mid swing of the sword, she whispered pain and weakness into his head as she snapped the officer's arm like a twig. The officer hit Xainia about the sides a few times with his good arm, but she drained such energy from the man's rage that it kept her unharmed. Taking his throat in one hand, the shadow priestess began to flay his mind. The zealous man's face turned to a fleshy liquid and ran over Xainia's hand then vaporized in a cloud of shadow energy which the shadow quickly absorbed.

"Thank you, good priest, if you could only help us escape this curs…" Shamus spoke but then began to choke as Xainia grabbed him too. "Ple… No!..."

Sapping his energy into the shadows, Xainia grinned at the helpless man. His wife ran over and grabbed her arm, trying to wrestle her loved one from the shadowy grip. This futile action only resulted in the woman being drained directly through her face by Xainia's other hand while the man continued to shrivel up helplessly. As soon as they were both drained and dead, Xainia walked slowly towards the crib, making a grim cooing noise at the young one. The shadow laughed at the easy catch it had found. Reaching down at the slowly waking toddler, she picked him up by placing one hand under each side of his chin and lifting him into the air, watching his lower body kick and squirm as he came to.

"Now yah dun hafta worry about bein in tha crusade, ah taken care ah everahting." Xainia laughed evilly.

The child started to cry as the slowly drain his still young and potent spirit. As she performed his act, suddenly the door slammed wide open with familiar figures rather than more crusaders.

"Xainia!" Zilis and Telina broke into the house and shouted; her two friends had tracked her down easily from the shadow and scent that she left behind.

Looking up suddenly, the shadows faded from her for a second and she caught sight of what she was holding. The pupils in her eyes shrunk to miniscule sizes as she screamed horribly and droped the slightly withered form.

"Wha... wha..." Xainia gasped, starting to breathe very quickly. The shadows quickly engulfed her again, being strong with energy from the acts committed only moments before. The shadowy Xainia turned to them. "Ya not supposed ta be here!" it focused on Zilis "Ah told yah not tah intahfere!"

"Neither be yah!" Barked Zilis, bearing her teeth like the wolf she was. "Be gone from 'er bodah, yah filthah Parasite!"

Xainia laughed. "Ya speak like dat be possible."

As Zilis and Xainia argued, Telina quickly took the child and whisked it away outside, calling back to the troll as she left. "I'll be back. This one needs help now." Calling the rejuvenating powers of nature to aid the child, the druid transformed into a cheetah and took the young one in her mouth like a cub, racing out of Hearthglen to find a safe place for it.

"She wouldin' be doin' dis if yah hadin' ah come!" Zilis yelled again.

"Ah am 'er. An you be dead fa what ya do dere." Xainia began to channel shadow energy between her hands.

Zilis let loose a feral growl, drawing her weapons almost thoughtlessly. All that crossed her mind was 'Would this harm Xainia?' She would have to be careful. To keep everything safe, she flipped her wapons to the blunt side.

Noticing that the druid had taken her prey, Xainia looked back to Zilis. "Clevah… Yah took dah rest ah mah meal. Let dah shadah fall on yah both" Xainia let loose a terrifying scream.

After the fearful effect of the scream faded, Xainia tried to latch shadow onto Zilis as she did with her other targets and was surprised to find that the other troll was more resillient than her other victims. Images of childhood fears and her worst nightmares flared through Zilis' mind, but she resisted the fear, only immobilized temporarily

Xainia laughed evilly. "Yes yah fear feeds me."

Redoubling her efforts, Zilis broke free of the nightmares. "'Dat Ain' gunna work so easah on meh!" Zilis yelled as she ran forward and swung sideways, striking the shadow squarely in the chest.

Stunned, Xainia tumbled back with the blow. Zilis quickly followed up with a swift kick to the side. "Ah'll purge Xainia ah yah mahself if ah mus..."

Unable to even call fourth her discipline in the depths of this shadow, Xainia tried once again to latch on to Zilis vampiricaly.

Pointing her sword directly at the Shadow's face again, the Wolf Helm covering her entire face, Zilis remarked once more. "Ah told ya befer, 'dat dun work on meh!"

At this comment, Xainia threw herself at Zilis, tackling her down and trying to grab at her weapons. The very shadow of her body tried to harm Zilis at the same time. Zilis gasped deeply, holding her breath as the shadow attacked her. Placing one foot firmly on the ground, she kicked up, flipping both of them over.

Xainia reached up from her now flipped position and fixed her hands on Zilis' neck. "Fall inta shadah. Fall inta shadah!"

Despite her resistance, Zilis felt the shadow's grip start to sap her energy. Gasping, the rogue noticed that it was very hard to breathe; more than any normal throttling that she had encountered in battle. "Kkssk.." Zilis choked as the fought on.

"Yes.. yes give mah yah energy" Xainia said greedily.

"Ah… wun... FAIL!" Zilis yelled. As she said this, she grabbed the shadow's wrists, kicking her in the stomach, twisting her arms back towards her body, and then jumping away. Clutching her neck and gasping, Zilis reclaimed her breath.

Letting out a guttural and almost demonic growl, Xainia charged Zilis once more as soon as she had regained her balance. Having forsaken her spells in the heat of battle, Xainia tried to claw at her opponent to cause harm. Zilis grabbed Xainia by the shoulders and pushed down, forcing the shadowy troll to run past her. As soon as this happened, Zilis caught Xainia by the waist and ran her backwards with her into the wall, smashing into it and causing all of the pots and pans to fall from it and clatter across the floor. Letting go, Zilis stumbled forwards and turned to face her prey; the Shadow had drained her of a tremendous amount of energy. Smashing into the bricks of the chimney from what Zilis had done, Xainia fell also. Getting back up to one knee, Xainia coughed as Zilis stared at her.

"Mah enahgy... yah pay fa dat. Ya pay... someday." The shadow faded from her. Xainia looked around for a moment, seeing herself and Zilis injured and remembering her surroundings. As soon as the realization fully hit, she burst out crying and ran from the cottage, calling her raptor as she ran.

"Xainia...thank 'da Spirits..." Zilis fell to one knee and coughed up blood then fell to the ground. "Damnit.."

Outside, Telina was just running back as Xainia jumped on her raptor and rode off. Although the druid was worried about her master, she knew that Zilis needed more help at the moment. Rushing inside, Telina quickly got to Zilis and called to the earthmother to save her.

"You'll be ok, Zilis. What happened?" Telina helped the rogue up.

"Ah…" Zilis cringed at the still present pain from the battle. "Ah won. How's dat kid?"

"There was a human paladin at the entrance of the town, not from the crusade. I left the child at its feet; I can only hope that it was the right kind of paladin to take the child to safety." Telina looked out of the door at the quick and scrambled paces Xainia had left as she ran.

"We got tah get tah her befa dah shadah take 'er again." Zilis walked slowly to the door, starting to feel better.

"I have a feeling that she went back to Brill." Telina called her own mount to leave.

"Nah. Yah find 'er if she did. Ah sah ah sign dat looked like dah shadah put it up in Orgrimmah. Ah gonna gah find 'er where da sign said ta go." Zilis looked towards the southeast where her destination would be.

Wishing the troll luck in the manner her father had always done to people, Telina smiled and rode off. "Winds be at your back, Zilis."

Xainia's raptor knew to take her back to the guild hall, the closest safe place for her. Xainia continued crying on the long ride, hunkered down on top of her raptor holding tightly. The image of what she held and her new friend's suffering stuck in her head. Following from a raised area, Telina tracked the troll back silently.

After some time riding through upper Lordaeron, nearly the rest of the day and into some of the night, Xainia entered the town of Brill. Her raptor was fairly exhausted, but it still knew where to take her. Xainia had fallen asleep for some of the ride but when she awoke the tears only returned; they stained her face and made it look puffy. The raptor stopped at the guild hall and jumped, waking her up.

"Ah no.. ah still be alive." Xainia muttered.

Xainia tried to wipe the tears off her face, but more came. She ran into the long dwarven looking guild hall and up into one of the room on the top floor. As the priestess entered the Hall, Telina walked up to the doors.

Patting the raptor on the side, Telina whispered to it. "You have done well, rest now."

Many of the guild members looked up at the unknown tauren waltzing into the hall just as they had done a double take when they saw Xainia running through.

An undead member of the guild, only a paige in rank, approached Telina. "You can't just walk in here unannounced."

Telina looked down at the Undead. "And who would be announcing me? I have important bussiness to attend."

"Well, I don't know. That's why people can't normally come in." The paige answered.

Telina sighed and smirked. "I won't make any trouble; I just need to watch someone." She said as she walked up to the stairwell leading to Xainia's quarters, and sat down, leaning against the wall.

"She's fine. She accompanied us in killing Hakkar." Marylyn spoke up and then looked at Telina "And a very important battle it was."

"'Fine' is an overstatement." Telina said back to the mage.

"You can let her pass." Noktwar, the guild leader, looked up from the large table in the hall.

Meanwhile in the upper room, the unrest continued. Xainia knelt on the bed and looked at her hands, the image still so fresh in her mind she remembered the weight of the body and the feeling of it shriveling to her touch.

"Nah.. nah.. How could ah..." Xainia said to herself.

_"You should forget about this."_ the shadowy voice spoke in her head.

"Nah, how could ah do dat, how could ah do sometin dat horrible." The young priestess almost began convulsing at the thought.

Telina could feel the shadow creeping back into Xainia's mind from outside the room.

_"You needn't be concerned. I've taken care of it."_ The shadow whispered overbearingly.

"Yah did dis. What else yah been doin when ah not know it." Xainia questioned the voice that had replaced her master's.

"Don't let the shadow fool you, Xainia..." Telina whispered to herself in the hall.

_"It's none of your business. I am taking care of us." _The shadow asserted again.

"But yah can't jus do dat!" Xainia objected, yelling in her own mind.

_Laughing in response, the shadow spoke back. "Yes, I can. You even wanted me to._ _You made me and you can't change that."_

"Nah, ah nevah wanted dis. It be worse dan what been done tah me… much worse." Xainia continued to cry.

The voice became irate sounding in her head_. "I said it is taken care of! Now you will sleep! You are not prepared nor equipped to deal with living; I am. Just go live your few hours while I sleep and let me take care of us. It is your only option._ _Your self__ pity is not wanted; it will not survive. You will forget today... just like every day."_

Overpowered, Xainia fell asleep. The voice faded. Telina frowned outside, knowing that her master had lost the battle.

"Why did you just let her go?" Telina thought back to the actions that Xainia's former master had taken.

Several days passed while Xainia slept in the upper room. Telina kept guard out in the hallway, tolerated as a guest of the guild. The word of her announcement in Orgrimmar only spread further in those days as the day of the march quickly approached. Xainia did not wake or hunger, the sleep she was forced into was far too deep. The shadow would have nothing less than its full power present for the campaign.

--------------

Finally after the days to the march had dwindled, someone entered the room. "Xainia, wake up. Are you going to attend your own march?" Noktwar questioned her. He was standing in the doorway with his armor on.

Marylyn also entered the room, nodding to the tauren that waited outside as she did. "I'll get her up." Marylyn placed a hand on the side of Xainia's face and lit it up with ice, snickering slightly.

Xainia shot awake and sat up. "Ahhh! Dat be cold! Dat be COLD!" Her eyes focused on them. "Why yah do dat?"

"You're about to sleep through the march you've planned." Noktwar reminded her. "The Undercity awaits you."

Xainia looked around. "Da march…" She paused as the shadow conveniently released the memories of the planned battle and what was going to happen. "...Dat be nah?"

"Yes, you've been asleep for some time." The guild leader informed her.

"Oh... Den ah must go." Xainia's face was no longer reddened from crying, but her eyes were so full of dried grit that she had trouble opening them fully. Grabbing her possesions, Xainia ran out of the front of the guild hall wordlessly and looked for her raptor.

Telina stood in front of the raptor, waiting for Xainia. She walked forward, stopping the smaller Troll as she advanced. "Wait, Xainia...here..." The Tauren licked her thumb and rubbed some of the grit out of Xainia's eyes. Glad that Xainia was walking in the light at the moment and not the shadow, Telina ruffled Xainia's hair gently, and gave her a faint smile.

Xainia paused. "Telinah? What yah be doing here?" her memories of the bad day were suppressed.

"Waiting for you. Come, we're needed at the Undercity." The druid turned away and called for her mount, not mentioning what had occurred at the moment.

Xainia got on her raptor and rode the several miles into the ruined capital. Riding into the grand scale courtyard, Xainia was surprised to see how crowded it was. Many members of the guards and other groups as well as some mercenaries were all waiting in the courtyard. Xainia rode up onto one of the side sets of steps and looked down at the crowd. Recognizing that she was a priest, many of them figured her to be the leader. Xainia dismounted and turned to them, surprised that thier numbers nearly came to four hundred. Telina stood quietly behind her master, her eyes shining as she looked over the crowd and crossed her arms.

Calling out over the crowd, Xainia tried to wing a speech. "Ah.. Ah'd like ta thank yah all fa comin here tah help me. We gonna be goin ta visit Jintha'alor. It be ah long journey, be dere anabodah who want ta step up ta assist?"

Several people came forwards to volunteer to take control of smaller groups within the mob that had gathered. After they divided into two major groups with four smaller groups each and two groups below each of those, they were prepared to move out.

"Den let's begin dah march." Xainia yelled out. The crowd cheered and turned to leave the courtyard under the command of the 'Lieutennants' of sorts that had been named. Xainia looked much more confident from the realization that she was making things like this happen. Silently, the shadow waited and built its energy back, Xainia had no idea of the rest of the mission that it had planned while she slept.

Even as a totally mounted army, the trip would take a long time; nearly crossing a continent was no simple task. The army moved its way through the plaguelands, carefully protecting camps from the wandering undead as each small group kept to its self. At the advice of her assistants, the army moved through Plaguemist Ravine as a shorter path into the Hinterlands. Leaving the rotten and plagued lands, the army pushed into the still verdant Hinterlands. As alluring as it was with such an army, the group wisely avoided the dwarf kingdom of Aerie Peak.

Xainia, you are certain you are ready for this?" Telina inquired while riding beside her those several days later. The druid already knowing the answer that Xainia would give.

".. ah guess. It not seem like too big of ah ting." Xainia answered in a somewhat bewildered fashion. "Ah… ah even forget wah ah do it... Ah just know ah planned ta do dis."

Heading past the path to the city, the army camped the last night to the northeast of the troll metropolis to avoid sentries. A few more had joined the group as it traveled, but overall the army had made the several weeks long journey unscathed.

Xainia sat in her tent the last night after setting a start time for her Lieutennants on the next day. Speaking to Telina, Xainia revealed much. "Ah remembah looking out ova dis plain from da city."

Tauren nodded at Xainia. "What else?"

"When ah do it bring back dah most terrible memories... but dey burn away... ah can't tink. Ah feel like ah dun know what be going on wit me anahmore. Ah hardly remembahd ya till ya showed up again." Xainia frowned.

"Oh? Then what -do- you remember?" Telina stressed her words.

"Nothin now, mah mind be blank. It feel like ah be swimming." Xainia complained. "Somebodah told me once dat ah couldn't be losin control ah mahself… but ah can't even remembah dat hardlah nah."

The druid sighed and gave Xainia a look of deep concern. "That's not good…"

"Ah dun know what ah can do about it. Ah know ah should know... but ah just dun. Ah nevah thought about it before, how ah should know, but ah do now… and it feel like it be too late. Ah jus wan ta be happy. Ah wan ta be able ta live fah once."

"It's never too late, Master. I know you'll get through this." Telina tried to be supportive of her beleaguered friend.

"Ah should sleep. We have... whatevah we had… tomarrow." Xainia lay down on the makeshift bed in the tent.

"Jintha'alor, Master. I'll keep a close watch over you while you sleep; rest well." The druid turned and stepped outside the tent, shooing those near-by away.

--------------

Xainia slept soundly for the night, not able to consider the next day or her past days. When the morning came, everyone began to prepare for the last bit of the march south to the city. Morning mist still covered the ground when they came to a halt five hundred yards infront of the city's massive main gates, which stood open like a leering maw. The army lined up in thier smaller groups and Xainia walked to the front of them. She looked over the crowd, then to the city for a moment, and then grabbed her head in a bit of pain.

_"You can't handle this. I'll take it from here."_ The shadows slowly poured from her, making the magenta and teal cloud that they usually formed. Her hair also changed again as it did some of the time. Looking back up with different eyes, she spoke loudly in a commanding voice.

"Form dah lines fah battle!" The shadowy figure yelled. "Ten deep, Fortah across."

"...Xainia...?" Telina muttered in disbelief to herself.

Obeying this strong commanding presence, the members of this attack fell into the rectangular formation with extreme precision. Xainia paced across the front of the lines speaking. "Taday, we come ta scour dese cannibal forest trolls from dis city. We come ta pay dem back fah helpin Hakkar. Nae ah single one leave 'ere alive! Da mission not be complete until everah inch, everah corner be empty. We leave dese ruins as ah symbol dat some alliances have too high ah price!"

Behind her, Telina stared in slight disbelief. "She wasn't even this violent when she fought Hakkar" she thought "All of her memories are present in the shadows… maybe… maybe it's taking them."

Xainia turned to the city, catching sight of Telina behind her. She cracked and evil grin and made a mocking kissy face. Xainia spoke quietly to herself. "Whatevah it takes tah make dem believe dis… whatevah it takes tah get me dah powah." The shadow priest paused. "Ah bet yah dam cannibals nevah expected tah see me again. Now ah be back."

In the city, a guard sleepily awoke from his past breakfast nap and looked out of his post towards the front of the city. His eyes widened very quickly and he looked about frantically.

"A vessel of hate and destruction..." Telina whispered.

Turning and running to the nearby guardhouse, the troll guard exlaimed. "Boss, dere be an army outside!"

"Yah be pullin mah leg mon, what dis be ya whelp?" an older and higher ranking guard replied. He walked out to the wall to look out of the post. "See dere ain be no... ARMY... ARMY!" The boss ran back to the post yelling. "ATTACK! SOUND DA ALARM!"

Xainia yelled out at exactly the same time. "Charge!!"

Obeying with a massive series of shouts, the army took arms and charged at the still open city gates. Moments after the whirlwind of death entered the gates, Xainia began to fight from about the middle of the pack. The destruction ripped through unarmed and unaware trolls inside the city's walls. Members of the army looted and snatched anything valuable looking from the houses as they began to make progress through the tiers of the city.

Cries erupted from the crowd. "Break thier bones!" … "For the Horde!" … "Power to the Forsaken!" … "Slay the cannibals" … "Let none survive!"

Rushing to keep up with the shadowy Xainia, Telina rooted the enemies that approached her, not interested in fighting. The tauren's priority was to keep an eye on Xainia. In no time, the city truly resembled a scene from hell, blood scattered everywhere with remains strewn in the streets behind the moving army. The smell of burning lumber began to fill the air as the buildings were set aflame in the army's wake. The city was neither prepared nor equipped to face such an unstoppable force. Only the numbers of the Vilebranch and the higher ground they held gave them any advantage. Catching up to Xainia finally, Telina caught her breath quickly. The shadowy troll surveyed the wreckage, looking for the next set of stairs.

"Xainia!" A familiar voice yelled out, and a tall troll covered in ripped and burned black leather dropped down from the next rise. She looked tattered, but better than she had in Hearthglen due to Telina's help.

Xainia turned as her shadowform dissappeared at the familiar voice. "Zilis? What yah be doing here?" Xainia caught sight of the slaughter around her. "Huh..." The shadows quickly re-engulfed her. "I'll deal with yah latah. Ah be tah busah nah. Dere ain nothing yah kin do tah stop me nah!" The shadow priestess ran up the next set of stairs to push the blockade that the Vilebranch had constructed at the top.

Zilis looked at Telina, and they both sighed. "Can't take my eyes off her..."

This time in the shadowy troll's head, Xainia's voice spoke. "Ah dinnah want dis. What yah be doing?"

_"Quiet you! I am taking care of it. __Sleep!"_The shadowy voice answered her in the half sleeping state she was stuck in.

Running up the stairs to catch Xainia, Zilis continueed to yell. "Xainia! Wake ap! Yah have ta get control ah yahself."

Xainia was unable to sleep seeing this now, and the shadow was too concerned with battle to make her sleep. She watched quietly, feigning sleep within her own mind. Breaking the blockade on that level, the army charged through triumphantly, throwing carcasses aside as the trolls fell.

Marylyn approached Xainia. "Xainia, they're slaughtering everything, even the children. We can't pray on those weaker than us, it is against the guard's code."

"Well ah see everyone doin it gladly. Sah nevahmind it." The shadow answered and charged away from her.

"Ignore 'er, she's naht in 'er right mind" Zilis said as she ran past.

"But I can't this is inhuman, I can't believe we are calling this justice." The undead, still holding some human values, spoke out to Xainia's friends.

Telina gave Marylyn a curious glance. "We? We are not." They pushed on through the city, the yells continuing along with the looting and burning. "Xainia always did wish revenge upon this place, but not like this. I know this is not her heart. The shadow has truly taken her." Telina said to her comrades, wincing as she thought of the scar that she bore from her own experiences with the shadow.

"It not be 'er… it be dat damn Shadah paracite..." Zilis said to Telina as they moved on.

Soon it was midday, most of the city was burning below them in the statement of grim victory. Pockets were full of loot and streets full of blood as the battle neared a close. Only the last tier and the temples atop the city remained to be 'cleansed' in this shadowy crusade.

"Xainia..." Telina had finally caught up with her Master.

Xainia was not paying attention to the tauren. The dark priestess was not even there when they burned the trolls out of where she had lived; she was much more concerned with the top tier. As the time neared evening and the city sat looted and in flames, the force finally approached the ampitheater below the large waterfall at the city's peak. The final host of the trolls had closed themselves in the cave while the leader and his best warriors sat at the altar to meet the army. Clearing the final depths of the city outside of the ampitheater, the fighters, now weighed down with possessions, surrounded the area.

"At least there's no more children..." Telina muttered. Zilis and Marylyn sighed in agreement beside her.

"That's still not good seeing as they've all been killed." Marylyn mentioned. "I even asked some others, it never crossed their minds until I mentioned it; horrible."

"Well if it didn't cross their minds, they can't be considered too evil for it... just unintelligent." Telina said quickly as the turned to watch the unfolding scene.

All three stood feet away from Xainia, watching now, knowing there was little they could do. The troll burned with a hateful malignancy as the stared at the last holdout. This was the culmination of the destruction of the day. This much power and fulfillment would surely give her the ability to stamp out the last childish parts of her other side.

The leader of the trolls called out. "Who be da leadah ah dis pack ah mongrels who seek ta wipe us from dis existence?"

Xainia stepped forward infront of the army. "Ah be, and yah be dying by mah hand. Ya can nevah make back fah what yah did tah mah parents on dis altah."

"Hm. You be ah dam blueskin… ah darkspear." The Vilebranch paused to think for a while. "Den yah parents be dose who set back da rebirth ah Hakkar. Ya have damned dem as well now, we kill you, den summon deh spirits ta torture fahevah."

Xainia's words recalled the memory of the fateful night to Telina's mind. The druid shivered and rubbed her eye quietly, sharing the scars that Xainia's memory bore.

"Gatha yah best warriors; dey face mine, an yah face me." the Vilebranch leader called out.

The lieutennants, all good battlers, stepped forward eagerly while Xainia approached the Vilebranch leader. Each lieutennant was more than a match for two of what the Vilebranch could muster, nothing even near the city had challenged his warriors in such a long time that they had fallen into mediocrity.

"Yah have signed yah death warrant, Vilebranch" Xainia approached with a slow waltzing gait, almost floating, as the Vilebranch leader drew his axes and put on some scrappy armor. The shadow priestess was giddy with the power she was mustering for this act.

"If ah die, Hakkar will bring me back ta life." The Vilebranch leader gloated, confident that he could beat the shadowy figure.

"Hakkar is dead." Xainia held her arms down and opened her palms, turning them to face her enemy. The shadow priestess waited to relish the horror that now filled the face of the Vilebranch leader and then spoke again with such terrible hate that no words could accurately describe it. "An so ah you." The troll's aura burned with intense shadowy power.

The Vilebranch leader raised his axe as she neared while saying that, but as soon as she did, he simply stopped. Without so much as a word, he faded from existence completely. The forest troll had been utterly erased by the spell that the shadowy troll cast. The axes and armor fell to the ground with a clatter as the crowd gasped at the attack. Shadow power was used by many, but a spell that simply removed a being from the world was beyond the likes of any of them. The other Vilebranch warriors fell without their leader, some of them running into the cave. Though they had been stunned by such a sight, it didn't fully stop the battle. The more bloodthirsty half of the army poured into the cave to finish the job as the others stayed out at the altar to wait for Xainia to release them from service.

Xainia approached the altar and knelt down on it. "Mah turn." Xainia's voice echoed in the shadowy figure's head as the shadows faded.

"Mama, Papa, ah've killed Hakkar, ah've come tah see yah. Can yah fahgive me?"

Silence followed. The army looked on, trying to grasp what Xainia meant; they didn't know her story. Telina and Zilis stood nearby the altar and hoped that a response would come.

"Can yah fahgive me?" Xainia repeated as the silence continued.

_ "You should forget about them. The memory only causes you pain; it hinders us."_ The voice tried to not be as agressive, realizing that it was pushed out of its control place by Xainia.

"Forget… Nah!" Xainia thought back, somewhat mumbling it outside of her head too.

_"You should. You will. I know what's best for you, for us." _The shadowy voice pressured once more.

"No. Nevah. Ah neva forget. Yah stop talkin like dat!" Xainia became a bit more audible.

Telina could faintly hear Xainia's mind as she neared her... "Xainia..."

Xainia blocked Telina out, sending a message back. "Dis be fah me tah deal with."

Telina looked down at the ground a moment, smiling at what she had heard. "That's the spirit I know."

The evil voice laughed in Xainia's mind. _"I don't have to stop anything. It's not like you can get rid of me. I am you! I am your hate, your revenge, your vanity; I am what you have made me. I am the power you wanted to wield and the power you used freely. You surrendered… I hold that surrender firm still!"_

"Ah seen what yah be doing. Yah been what make me black out." Xainia indicted the voice.

_"Oh, bravo, that took you long enough. I was doing what you wished, making people revere you, revile you, obey you. Ever since HE left... you've wanted me to. You wanted a new master, something powerful to protect you. I am your master! I've mastered you since your parents died. Don't you remember?"_

Still caught in the inner conflict, the troll remained on one knee on the altar as she argued on. "Yah stealin mah life. Dats all ah need tah know. Dat's what HE meant when 'e left."

_"Our life I'm afraid, my dear self. Your life hasn't been yours ever since you gave it up. Why don't you see if you can deal with __dis__Hrm__ I spent five years appearing like this to you before you gave me a new way!" _The voice was now acting normally, having forgotten what just happened in a fit of rage. In an instant, it let loose all the grim memories it had been holding back. The vilebranch speaker, the troll she had broken the tusk of, and the undead images of her parents began to materialize in her mind as the shadow image stood back and laughed. All of the violence and death that she had caused while engulfed by the shadows came back to the young troll. Xainia's mind image of herself began to cry as tears came forth in the physical world too.

Sniffing the tears up, Xainia spoke. "It was nevah me… it was yah. Yah killed dem, yah attacked mah friends. Ya tormented me fah years until ah finahly let yah take me ova."

_"Your own guilt and helplessness tormented you! Your hate! I am your hate and your lust for power. If you look at me and you see your guilt. You see the things that you can't leave behind in my being. You are a pitiful child, not worthy to exist in a ruthless world like this. The shadows have made me real and it's MY turn." _The voice poked at her. _"You can go ahead and die now… child. I'll take care of us completely from now on."_

Seeming to realize something, Xainia looked up in her mind and up at the sky with her body. The shadowy image of her suddenly gained a new expression, one of slight fear. "Is dat it? If dat be it den yah be nah trouble. Ah not become ah shadah priest fah nothin!"

_"What do you mean? I certainly am trouble, I am the power... I am your completion. Without me, you cannot survive." The shadow's rage had become desperation._

"Yah be somethin ah made yah say. An now yah gone an showed me mah memories, yah shown me behind da blackness ah couldn't see through. Ah nevah forget dah past, but ah not gonna dwell on it. Ah not gonna let dis feeling take me ova." Xainia's mind image of herself began to shine.

_"What are you thinking? I cannot see it. What?! Your thoughts should be an open book to me, we are one! You cannot beat me! You are not ready for this world!" _The voice pleaded and admonished its host at the same time.

"Yah be mine. Yah be somethin ah made and ah control. Ah control mah hate, mah vanity, mah need tah use dah shadow. Impuden dream! Know yah place!" With this declaration, beams of light shot from the hands of Xainia's mental image. The power began flaying the shadowy image of Xainia to the ground.

_"Don't do this! You need me! You don't know how to live!"_

Xainia began to draw all that the shadow had taken from her back. "No, yah need me. Without me, yah don't exist. Ah be in charge now... and forevah. Ah'm free!"

Manacles of light appeared around the shadowy figure's arms as her broken form stood up and looked at Xainia. The figure stood with a slump and didn't make eye contact with the light image of Xainia. Replying slowly, the voice of the shadowy figure sounded as monotone as a voidwalker; it lacked all consciousness and higher thinking. "Yes, my mistress."

Xainia stood up on the altar, the shadows gone from her. Zilis felt the shadows disperse inside Xainia and smiled. At the same time, the shadows faded from Telina's mind, and she smiled proudly at Xainia.

"You've done it, Master..." The tauren looked for a moment to run up and hug her master.

"Ah... Ah should ah had it long ago. But thank yah. Ah dun feel it ah triumph, just takin out dah trash." The priestess looked around, slightly embarrassed that the entire army had seen that.

The druid smirked. "You've still overcome it; it was not an easy task. You did it alone, truly admirable" She stood up, still shorter than the troll. "You've come a long way, Xainia. You truly can take care of yourself now. I knew it when I first met you; your spirit cannot be crushed."

Before Telina could lead her master away, the candles on the altar lit up and a beam of light shined down from above the altar. The light was so intense that some of the undead looked away from it. The wounds of the army healed from the light as figures began to materialize in the beam.

"She's right. Yah've done a great ting taday, Xainia" Xenus' spirit said from above her.

"Papa?" Xainia looked up and saw the spirits of both of her parents standing above the altar. Telina looked up at them both and nodded

"Yes, mah child. We knew ya had killed Hakkar, an now yah have freed us from dis place. But dat not be da greatest ting."

"It not?" Xainia questioned, looking to them for more advice.

"Yah. All priests decide how ta handle da balance ah light an shadah. Some ignore it, some be consumed by it, an othas conquer it. Yah done ah great ting bah not lettin dah shadah mastah yah." Dalnuya's spirit spoke.

"Fa dat, we be sah proud ah yah. More dan fah all dis revenge an Hakkar's destruction." Xenus floated lower to the ground along with Dalnuya.

"But… dey all be dead, dis be ah slaughta..." Xainia protested, knowing the death that the shadow had sown through the city.

"It be unfortunate dat it took dis much fah yah ta ovahcome, but jus as ya can't regret us and da past, yah can't dwell on dis. Ya can wish all yah want dat ya hadn't done dis, but now it only be ah lesson from befah yah beat dat shadah." Xenus' spirit spoke then scrabbled around in the bones by the altar. From the bone pile, he produced two daggers that still glowed with enchantments and maintained their edge.

"Take dese, dey wa mine. Dah Vilebranch leave em 'ere. Dey be dah daggahs ah ah family, ah symbol ah Darkspear." Xenus handed her the daggers.

"Now we 'ave ah whole aftalife ta catch up on. Live 'appily, Xainia. We hope it be ah long time before yah be joinin us." Dalnuya spoke softly but encouragingly.

Allowed to hold them through her connection to them, Xainia hugged her parents. She waved goodbye as they rose into the air and drifted away. Taking her staff, Xainia stepped off the altar and brought it down upon the cursed surface. Even though it was not much force, the altar shattered in half and its bad magic was dispersed. The army, which had since returned from the cave, watched in stunned silence. As the altar shattered, they all began to cheer and clap for her, knowing the significance of such an encounter even without knowing Xainia personally.

Xainia turned to them. "Ah thank yah fah helpin me taday. Let us leave dis burned city now. Da battle be ova. Ah hope tah meet ya all on da journey again."

With that the army broke up and began to slowly head out smouldering ruin; each saying goodbye to the grim scene in his or her own way. Some of the fires billowed grey as the more sane fighters snuffed them out. Many of the druids dropped seeds in the ruins as they left, the wilds would overcome the city eventually, returning it to nature.

Telina sighed while Zilis straightened her torn up armor. Xainia turned to Zilis and Telina. "Ah guess it be ova now." she walked over to Zilis, who still showed the wear of their previous battle. "Ah be so sorrah." Xainia hugged Zilis.

Zilis blinked at Xaina as the priestess gave her a hug. Hugging Xainia in return, Zilis shrugged the fight off. "Dun worrah about it, ah needed 'dah sleep." She smiled to Xainia. "Jus next time make sure yah can 'ear me when ah say yah need 'elp."

Telina coughed. "We should get out of here. They could have called help and these walls could give way with all of the other druids trying to regrow the forest here." The tauren whistled for her mount while the others called theirs.

Xainia climbed onto her teal raptor and turned towards the way out of the city. "Ah dun think there be anah left, but let's go."

Zilis nodded, calling for her own mount before leaping down off the wall and vanishing from sight. "To Orgrimmar!"

"Yah, an wherevah. Away from dis place." Xainia followed alongside Telina.

The three rode off from the city of Jintha'alor and into the west. Xainia carried the two daggers of her tribe stashed in her pack now; she had proven to herself and her comrades that though some forces may seem indominable and chaotic, nothing in the end can overcome a determined will and a bright spirit.


	10. Encore Part 1:  The Hunt

**Chapter 10: Encore part 1 – The Hunt**

The shadow in Xainia's life had been bound and defeated. The story of her training and triumph had come to an end just as a curtain falls on a play. Yet, some questions remain unanswered; inquries so pronounced that they could plague many. Now, an encore.

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"Help me." A voice echoed in Xainia's head as she slept in a makeshift bunk.

"Wha? Dat not be ah ghost, it not be somebodah here. Who be talkin in dis way?" she thought.

"You will know when the time comes. Help me." The voice faded.

Somewhat confounded by this, Xainia got up from the cot she was having an evening nap on and walked over to the chapel. She had been in the Eastern Plaguelands, tending to the sick. After completing the tasks given to her by Eris Havenfire, and the call to battle from the horde, working with the Argent Dawn had become her calling. The young troll wore their tabard proudly as she approached the chapel and continued to think.

"Dat sounded familiah, like ah dream." Xainia muttered as she stopped and tended some of the wounded.

A familiar voice came from inside the chapel. "...Na', nah...yah, ah'll be back… dun worrah mon, ah'll be back in time fer... wha? Yah, ah kin do 'dat, ahkay, ahkay...yah...Latah..."

Xainia looked up, smiling; she ran over to behind the mailbox at the chapel. The owner of the voice, a troll wearing a wolf mask, stepped out of the chapel. She looked towards the sick beds trying to find Xainia. ".. 'Xai..? Ya 'ere?"

Reaching out quickly from behind the mailbox, Xainia jerked the wolf mask down so it blocked Zilis' vision. The mask yelped in surprise as the owner took quick action. Wisely, Xainia jumped away at the same time and avoided a swift roundhouse kick that Zilis responded with.

Zilis pulled off the mask, hitting nothing, and looked for who did it. "Ah! Xai!" She laughed and stood up again, smirking.

"Nice reflexahs, Zilis." Xainia was practically plastered against the wall of the chapel to avoid the blow.

Zilis giggled. "'Dat's what'cha git fer messin' wid 'da Wolf." She winked and smiled again. "'Ou ya bin?"

"Ah been so so. Dere be so manah tah heal wit dat dam big buildin up dere in dah sky. An not ta mention dese scarlets runnin around actin like dey know wha ta do." One of the various Scarlet Crusaders shot Xainia a dirty look at that comment. "Sah what bring yah all dis way?" Xainia continued.

"Ah gaht ah job... ahn was wonderin' if ya wanted tah come along... be ah nice change ah pace." Zilis suggested.

"Ah job?" Xainia got close and whispered. "Yah mean killin? As long as ah dun got tah be dah bait again dis time."

Zilis nodded and turned towards the windriders then began to search in her bags. "An ah tink ah remembah somebodah sayin dat dey din't mind bein bait if ah told em first."

"Yah, but ya reallah gonna need me fah dat?" Xainia thought for a moment. "Ah come with yah, anahway. Dis must be important fah yah ta need me." Xainia acted slightly self important.

The two trolls walked a distance from the chapel, but Zilis led them away from the windriders. "Som'un be wantin' meh tah take out 'dis creepah guy, 'dey said 'ey was a demon talkah ah sometin'...'ey's up in Wintahspring."

Xainia looked incredulous. "Dat be kinda far. But ah will go. We not goin on dah windriders?"

Zilis pulled out a medium sized white stone laced with blue runs that looked like running water from her back pack. Holding it up to Xainia's eye level, she grinned.

"Ooh.. but... ah thought onla one could use dat ting." Xainia gazed at Zilis' hearthstone.

"Well yah be right, but ah watch dah innkeepers." Zilis grabbed Xainia's stone like the ninja she was and moved around the blue runes on the surface.

"Dat be amazin. Ya kin set hearthstones?" Xainia took hers back and saw that it was now configured the same as Zilis'

Zilis held the stone out weaving the spell around it and waiting for Xainia to prepare also.

"Where dis be takin us? Alla da way dere?" Xainia activated her own stone.

"Yah, tah Wintahspring" Zilis said before a flash of light engulfed them both.

--------------

The air flashed around them as the two were ripped across the known world. After a slight pause in the hearthstone's traveling spell, they noticed snow falling outside. The surroundings had changed from the bleak plaguelands to a warm inn in Everlook.

Xainia staggered for a moment, getting her bearings. "Where we be goin nah?"

"Nawhere tahnight." Zilis saw that there was a horrible storm outside and walked over to the innkeeper. "Ah need ah room."

"Okay, do you need a single…" The innkeeper looked over towards Xainia. "Double separate, or double joined."

"Ah take dah joined." Zilis took out some money as the goblin innkeeper went to get a set of keys.

Giving them a strange look, he made the exchange. "Hehe, glad I could help."

The inn in Everlook was very spacious and had many rooms for rent. With Everlook being the only real city in the cold mountains of Winterspring, it had to be. Zilis went over to the bar next and bought some food.

"Ya 'ungry ah thirstah?" Zilis turned to Xainia.

"Yah, blessah sunfruit be all ah had in weeks. It get boring, nah as bad as wolf meat tho." Xainia sat down on the stool beside Zilis and ordered food.

The two had lived like this before Xainia had retired to the plaguelands. They had been floating between inns and living off of what they had, for a time after the battle of Jintha'Alor. It had all ended, however, when Xainia was called by the horde to serve in battle. Zilis didn't hear the same calling; she had gone and become well known, exhalted, among the Argent Dawn. After that, they had only run into eachother on occasion. This day was the most time they had spent together since the horde had come calling. After having dinner, they retired to the room that they had rented.

"It not be good tah eat right befa sleepin." Xainia commented as she lay on the bed.

"Who say we be sleepin?" Zilis sat on the bed in the small room after securing the door and removing her wolf mask; she smiled at Xainia.

"What if ah do?" Xainia leaned over and prodded Zilis' forehead with her finger.

Zilis pretended to bite at the finger. "Ah dun think yah would. We haven seen eachotha in months."

"Well ah guess yah got me." Xainia grabbed the collar on Zilis' armor and pulled her down somewhat forcefully to the bed.

The next morning, they both rose and ate at the inn again. After finishing, Zilis led the way by stepping out into the chilly embrace of the Winterspring air. While Zilis stretched for a moment, Xainia came out of the building and took an ornate whistle from her bag. She played a quick tune on it and a small shot of magical looking energy came down from the sky and landed. In a small burst of light, her raptor, Zahriel, appeared.

"Show ahf." Zilis muttered as she retrieved her raptor from the troughs just outside the city. "We be goin down south ah 'dis town... las place 'ey was seen."

As Xainia tended to her raptor and prepared to climb on, the voice suddenly echoed in her head again. "Help me." Xainia looked around to see where it had come from. Not finding anyone, she shrugged and climbed onto Zahriel; the dulled Lieutennant General insignia hung from his neck jingled as she did.

"Jus down dah road?" Xainia asked.

"Yah...it be quite 'dah ways, 'doh...ahn 'da cavern 'ey went in be dangerous... it be takin ah few days." Zilis replied.

"Ah now yah tell me? Wha said ah wanted tah camp out in dah cold fah days." Xainia complained.

"Well if ah told yah everating yah'd nevah want ta do anahting." Zilis led the way south, riding slightly off the path to avoid detection.

Riding such a distance south took longer than Zilis had predicted. Xainia complained as they were nearing the end of the day. "We ah gonna have tah camp. Ah was hopin yah might ride fasta dan dhat."

"Ah told yah it take ah while. Campin not be ah trouble fah yah in dah past. Yah sayin ah lahtennant genahral not be up fah dah challenge." Zilis reached over and poked the medallion that hung from Zahriel's neck with her dagger handle as they rode.

"Ah be up fah dah challenge! Dere's ah shortcut! Ah takin it." Xainia rode off the path, feeling like she had to do something dangerous to prove Zilis wrong.

After a few moments of riding off of the path, it became hard to tell where the ground really was, Zahriel's legs began to plunge knee deep in the banks. Zilis stopped a moment and looked around, but Xainia foolishly kept riding and suddenly dissappeared, falling through a bank of snow. The snow quickly filled in around her.

"Xainia?! Xainia!" Zilis jumped off her raptor with a start "Ah ya alright?!"

Over the bank of snow just to the south, Zilis met a surprising sight. There was a scourge camp just off the road, hidden in a lower part of the ground. Some skeletons looked towards the voice. Zilis' eyes widened as the unnatural gaze fell upon her. She quickly fell to the ground, hoping they hadn't spotted her, letting lose a low whisper telling her raptor to hide.

A voice entered' Zilis head now. "This quest will bring you only pain. Turn back."

The skeletons turned back towards the fire in thier camp, which glowed an eerie shade of blue and green. Zilis sighed with relief, choosing to ignore the voice in her head for now... Xainia was still in danger. Nothing moved for quite some time in the camp. Trying not wasting a moment, Zilis crawled slowly towards the place Xainia dissapeared, calling out to her in a low voice, careful not to fall into the same trap. The undead were moving around to the side of the camp that was away from the road, looking for something to catch and eat.

In the snow bank, Xainia had tried to make a place for her self to see she was getting frozen very quickly. She could almost see something to hit and so she took a chance, holding onto one of Zahriel's reins while she did. Through the oppressing clouds in the sky, a bolt of holy flame came down and struck a skeleton on the far side of the camp. All of the others looked around for where it had come from and finding nothing, walked towards where it had hit. Zilis heard a raptor growling slightly a small distance away. Another bolt hit a skeleton on the opposite side of the camp and as the main population of the camp ran for that it. As the second bolt it, Zahriel charged out of the snowbank heading to the south with Xainia clinging to his side and trying to get onto the saddle. The undead were all alerted and tried to take off after her.

Xainia made it into the saddle and grabbed the reins. "Nah. We hafta make dis fast!" Zahriel growled and began to sprint.

Slowly getting to her feet, Zilis watched, slightly taken aback. The undead were still on Xainia's tail, not even noticing Zilis. The undead were losing ground on the sprinting black raptor. Concentrating as best as she could, Xainia smited the skeletons while riding towards the south.

Zilis sighed, 'Yer crazy' and then grabbed her own raptor and started to sprint towards the undead, her hands on her weapons.

Despite the damage that was angering then enough to follow, as Xainia began to cross a gigantic ice bridge, even the undead came to a halt. They stood, watching for a moment, as Xainia made it a short distance across before coming to a halt. Zahriel breathed in the cold air with visible effort as the undead continued to watch at the bridge.

Finally coming up behind the undead, Zilis did a flip off of her raptor's back and landed on the back of one of the undead, bringing her sword down through the top of its skull. Next, she jumped off and attacked another one in the same way, moving with great agility until one of the undead dodged and she landed on the bridge. Despite being just out of melee range, the undead did not step on the bridge. Zilis' raptor rode through and knocked down another, clawing it to pieces as it ran across. The undead still would not set foot on the bridge. Staring for a moment, the undead realized the two would not come back and then lost interest, returning to their camp.

"Yah sure know how ta show me ah good time." Zilis turned to her friend.

"Wha took ya so long?" Xainia panted.

"Ah didn't know where ya was…" Zilis shrugged as her raptor caught up to them, carrying a still wiggling leg bone in its mouth. "Put dat down… it still movin." Zilis motioned at the raptor and it threw the femur over the side of the bridge with a swing of its head. "Besides, ya kin take care ah yahself, it be seemin'."

"So… where ah we nah? " Xainia pointed looked at the bridge around them.

Zilis' expression changed, her mask seemed to cover her entire face to hide it. "Frostwhispah gorge. We be headin tah dah south where some demons ha taken up livin."

"Well den lets get dere. Dis place be dangerous even when we not in da canyon." Zahriel carried Xainia south again at a slower pace as she said that.

Patting her raptor on the nose, Zilis told her raptor to return to the city. Zilis continued on slightly ahead of Xainia, walking quietly. Dismounting from Zahriel, Xainia came to a stop as they finished crossing the bridge. She blew her whistle and Zahriel was whisked off by the arcane torrents to a safe place.

"We got dah time tah stay dah night? Ah not wantin tah be goin inta dat gorge at night." Xainia walked over and stood beside Zilis' raptor.

"Ah suppose. Dis be dah onlah way out ah dah gorge ah tink" Zilis dismounted and tied her raptor to a nearby tree, spreading the saddle blankets over it to keep it warm.

Xainia quickly began to set up the tent for them. The wind had died down this close to the demonic gorge; the gorge itself was stagnant with the reek of the demons. After the tent was set up, Xainia quickly got into it and laid down on the blankets that they had spread to keep them protect from the cold ground.

"Sah Xainia." Zilis asked as they tried to go to sleep. "Yah nevah told me ahbout wha happened wit dah shadah."

"Whatcha mean?" Xainia looked over, not too comfortable with the topic. "Yah sah me beat it yahself. Ah used it when we wah out around dah world an it was still me. Ah served dah horde wit it."

"Nah. Ha it started. Wha caused such ah bad ting tah happen to yah?" Zilis pried a bit more.

"Well dah first time ah used it it saved mah life. It was sorta mah fault ah tink. Ah thought ah was controlling it but ah was only letting it control me. Dah shadah be sometin verah dangerous if yah dun control it." Xainia began to lecture Zilis.

"But who showed yah dah shadah? Yah didn't just come across it did yah? Yah told me what happened to yah parents and ha ya came ta Kalimdor. Ah tink ah even remembah seein yah on dat island when dah horde came in. Yah nevah told me wha happened tah yah ta get ya goin on dis whole quest." Zilis made the question more direct, like she wanted someone to blame for the misdeeds of the shadow.

Thinking of her former master for a moment, Xainia decided it would be best to not give Zilis someone else to hunt. "It not be important, reallah. Ah found mah way and met yah and Telina. Ah can't dwell on dah past."

"Fahn. Ah guess ah nevah know." Zilis frowned, trying to elicit a response from Xainia through pouting.

"Yah. But yah shouldn't wan tah know." Xainia corrected her. "Nah gah tah sleep."

Somewhat impressed that Xainia had withstood all of her tactics, Zilis tried to go to sleep also. She had always been fascinated by how secretive Xainia was, but her hate for what the 'parasite', as she called it, ran deeper than her love for her friend.

Just inside the entrance to the gorge, another being looked out at the campsite and then down at a full sack of purple shards on its belt. "Oh, my old friend… has it come to this? You've sent this assassin after me. Mark my words; she'll never reach me alive." He bluffed as he threw a green stone up in the air and walked into the depths of the gorge.

The night sky lit up in a green shade as a meteor hit the ground amongst the hederine demons and stood up, alight with fel flames; an infernal. The demon quickly dispatched the hederines at the mouth of the gorge and waited patiently for the prey that its summoner had promised it.

--------------

After the two trolls had slept soundly for the night, they quickly rose and packed the tent. Xainia didn't bother to summon her raptor for what she perceived to be a short distance, so she took Zilis' raptor and led it for the rogue. As they approached the gorge, the infernal glared impatiently at them. More hederine demons had resumed the post behind the firey rock, but they didn't want to challenge him.

A deep demonic voice echoed towards them from the beast. "You shall not pass. You…" the demon pointed at Zilis. "Are mine!"

"He has chains... Dat belong tah someone." Xainia noticed and whispered to Zilis.

"'Dat Mastah runs scared, leavin' 'dere pets tah die...?" Zilis muttered.

"Or ta return when dey win." Xainia corrected the rogue.

"Na gore, na glorah..." Zilis unsheathed her weapons and moved towards the demon.

Xainia lowered her head in prayer and a shield appeared around Zilis. Zilis looked the enormous creature over. It didn't appear to have any weak points, so most of her assassination skills would prove useless. The flaw of the infernal was that it looked slow... she'd have to outmanuver it. Seeing that they were not being frightened away, the infernal moved to engage first. Without a word, Zilis charged at the beast, lunging at it with her sword behind her, preparing a hard strike to the chest. While Xainia burned away at it with the powers of light, the infernal swung its arm powerfully to hit the approaching toll away. Just as the Infernal was about to strike her, Zilis vanished and left only smoke in her place. The infernal looked around, not charging for Xainia even though she was helping; it searched for Zilis. Without warning, Zilis appeared from behind the infernal. She had jumped upwards and behind it to get a good shot. Stabbing into the rocky back of its head, she landed and held on. As the infernal's aura burned her and he tried to shake her off, she continuously slashed at its head. Xainia looked at Zilis swinging; she had not done combat in so long as she had been at Lights Hope healing. Xainia's shield helped to lighten the burn on Zilis, and her armor absorbed some of it, but she started to sweat from the fire on the infernals' head as she ran around on the beast's shoulders. The infernal was weakening, but it was still unknown who would survive longer. Xainia looked at her hands then back at the infernal after renewing the shield on Zilis. She thought very hard for a moment and then the infernal suddenly shook and collapsed to the ground; its mind punished severely. As the infernal fell to peices, Zilis quickly backflipped off of it and landed in the snow. Xainia ran over and made sure the rogue was ok.

"D-d-dat wasin' s-s-sah bad...is jis a little coldah down here is all..." Zilis took off her mask and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Xainia held the mask while Zilis composed herself.

"Ah only wonda what be comin next. Do we hafta kill dese? Ah tink we can get around dem." Xainia looked at the hederine demons.

Zilis looked around for a moment before moving. "Follah me, ah see a way around."

They both climbed onto Zilis' raptor and headed into the canyon. The hederines were obedient to their posts; they did not notice the two. Luckily for them, the raptor fit through the first cave and saved them a battle against some of the demons. As the two made it to the second cave, they saw they would have to dismount to pass. Zilis and Xainia followed the tunnel in silence until Xainia spoke as they neared the exit of the tunnel. "Sah how dah we find 'im in all dis. Dere's tons ah caves."

"Dey say Mt. Hyjal be through 'ere...mebbe he be lookin' tah hide 'dere?" Zilis ended her sentence questioningly, looking for agreement from Xainia.

"Dere? But dah elves locked dat place up. Ah been dere befa… back when dis canyon was full ah snow." Xainia strained to remember.

"'Den if he be gettin' in, 'ou knows what he be unlockin'..." Zilis looked worried. "We bes be checkin." As Zilis said that, suddenly something wrapped around her leg and tripped her. A bright light flashed at the same time; Xainia was blinded by it too.

As the flash faded, it appeared like two Xainias were standing behind Zilis. One of them stepped back and gasped. "Wha?"

Getting to her feet quickly, Zilis turned around and shot a glance behind her to make certian this wasn't a sneak attack. Nothing else was nearby; even a succubus that had been walking the path was gone. Only Zilis and two copies of Xainia stood on the path.

"Wha dis be? Yah look like me!" the one that hadn't gasped exclaimed.

"Wha yah be talking about. Yah be lookin like me." The other retorted.

Zilis turned her gaze on the one that spoke last, giving it a glare through the eyes of her mask; her mask came to life and reinforced the glare.

The one that had gasped turned to Zilis. "Ya gonna hafta figure out which one. Ah can't have some demon ah otha thing lookin like me."

"Can yah tell? It be her!" The other one said. "Ah know yah. We been friends fah so long."

The mask continued to stare down the Xainia that Zilis was looking at, however, under the mask Zilis' expression was quite different, many different throughts ran through her mind. If she hit the wrong one, she would hurt her friend.

"Enough ah dis. get out ah mah form." The two Xainias said almost in unison and began to lock arms with eachother.

Zilis growled deeply and poked her finger with her blade. "Ah, ah got a cut, which one of yah can heal me?"

They looked at her and then at eachother. One of them quickly cast a healing spell while the other looked around with helplessness. "Ah… ah din have mana. Wha ya goin ta do?"

Still staring at the same Xainia, the one who could not heal, Zilis raised her blade and pointed it directly at her.

"Dun do it. It be her." The non-healer pleaded.

Wordlessly, she charged forward as the threatened Xainia dived away. Bringing her blade behind her, she prepared a great cleave down onto the Xainia. Zilis suddenly felt a whip wrap around her as the Xainia she fought dove back revealed itself to be a succubus.

Zilis stopped in pain as she regained her footing and proceeded to try to remove the whip.

"You are perceptive, but that won't save you." The succubus suddenly stood up and tried to charm Zilis.

Zilis staggered as the succubus taunted. "You'll never reach him." Now drawn to the succubus, Zilis walked forward to try and embrace it.

In the middle of this charm, Zilis closed her eyes and tried to ignore the words. Barely concentrating enough, she avoided embracing the demon. The eyes of her mask came alive and glowed slightly.

"You'll stay here with me. Always with me." The succubus echoed.

"Spirit ah 'da Wolf...lend meh true sight..." Zilis muttered.

The succubus felt her spell weakening and tried to renew it. While she could still concentrate, Zilis took her blade in hand, sheathing the other and bringing her hand in front of her. Cutting her palm quickly, she clenched it and focused on the pain as the blood fell to the tainted ground. The spell broke very quickly because of the pain, allowing Zilis to attack. Redoubling her efforts, Zilis looked up at the Succubus through the Mask. The succubus realized her spell was broken now and tried an all out attack.

"If I can't have you, you'll die." The demon's whip lit up as she drew it back and swung it.

Zilis ducked the whip as she swung it horizontally and then caught it with her arm. The troll twisted the whip around her arm despite the burning sensation it had, and pulled the succubus towards her. Though such an attack would usually not have been enough, the succubus tripped on a loose rock and fell right onto Zilis' blade.

Run though, the demon coughed. "This isn't over! Kalona fails, others won't."

Zilis shot the dying Succubus a glare before turning to Xaina. "Ya a'ight?"

Xainia paused for a moment. "Kalona... yah ah be alright."

"Nah ah convinced ah it. 'Dere's nah time tah lose, if 'ey be lookin' tah unlock Hyjal...c'mon" Zilis got on her raptor along with Xainia again and ran towards the entrance of Hyjal, trying to make up for lost time.

After crossing through a few more caves, they saw the line of columns leading to the Hyjal gate. A small blue figure stood infront of the columns and glared at them as the other demons had.

"Ah voidwalker. He mus be runnin out ah choices." Xainia commented.

Zilis returned the glare as they approched it. "Get outta dah way."

"And why would I be a last choice?" the voidwalker spoke in a low and monotone voice, he seemed to know the horde language well. "You seem to underestimate me."

"Savin' da best fer last den." Zilis prepared to take on the blue ball of shadow.

"You come here as murderers. Why? Your target cannot even return to the void, why waste the life energy?" he questioned them.

"Ah demon born ah 'da souls ah da fallen calls us murderers? Ya 'Mastah' seeks somethin' terrible, ya know not what ya do."

Xainia stood silently, trying to see into the cave that led to the gate while her friend argued the voidwalker down.

The voidwalker, Krakkesh, laughed. "You don't know what he seeks, yet you seek something just as horrible as you perceive that he does; his death. You have no conviction, no reason. Only a price."

"'Un fer manah if he gonna open Hyjal. If somebodah say it be his time tah die… den it just might be." Zilis tried to match the word play that Krakkesh was giving her.

"You must believe that, having killed an entire city of trolls on a whim." Krakkesh stabbed at the trolls with his remarks.

Xainia shook a bit at that comment, still silent, she seemed to sense something. Neither of them knew how this demon found out about the battle.

"Ah give mah 'enemies' sancity from ah world ah chaos, ahn try tah repair 'da world in da process. Ah give 'dem peace" Zilis tried to put a purpose behind assassination once more.

"And yet thier peace would have been living… not slaughter." The voidwalker argued.

"Peace ah demon like ya kin nevah know...sad..." Zilis tried to insult the demon passively.

"I do not need peace. I will not know peace. You would nonetheless try to pass and destroy all that my master has done…" The voidwalker tried to worm into their resolve more. "…for nothing more than a price; how demonic of you."

Zilis snickered; doubtful a warlock could do any good. As she did, a fireball hit her in the back.

"Augh!" the rogue cried out and fell forwards off of her mount. Flipping upwards, she looked for the source.

Xainia got off of the spot on in the front of the saddle that she sat on and looked around for the where it had come from also. Seeing an imp on top of one of the pillars, Xainia shielded Zilis and prepared to attack.

"Xainia, gid outta 'ere!" Zilis yelled.

"You help this one? You know now what you do." The voidwalker glared at Xainia as the imp grinned and threw more fire around.

"Nah. Ah not leave yah!" Xainia said, healing Zilis.

"Two on 'un, eh? A'ight 'den.." Zilis looked to the voidwalker, but he was gone. He had run towards a broken pillar and was headed up into the mountains around the canyon. Dodging the next fireball, Zilis drew a throwing axe and hurled it at the imp. The imp caught the axe between the palms of his hands and laughed, discarding it. In response to this, Xainia smited the little green parasite.

"Hey, watch it lady." The imp yelled back at Xainia.

Zilis tapped her raptor on the nose and he ran towards the exit of the canyon to return to Everlook; a mundane raptor wouldn't be able to make it any further. Quickly moving on, Zilis ran over to the pillar and scaled it with ease; Xainia followed as closely as she could. The pair found themselves jumping on the rock ledges above the door; they could see the green lush and renewing forest on the far side of the ridge. The imp was now out of range, it chased to catch up. The voidwalker kept running, heading down a steep slope now into the forest. The two slid down the hill and looked around for him.

Zilis muttered to Xainia. "'dis is prolleh a trap. Be on yah guard ahn don be hesitant tah run; ah'll be fine."

"Ah tink it be too late... dah gate is still closed an dere be nah way back up." Xainia looked at the hill.

The gate to Hyjal had indeed not been breached, falsifying the idea they had that the warlock was letting something out.

"He musta taken dis way in too." Zilis suggested.

The voidwalker stopped ahead of them and turned, now in the open. "That is right, fools. Now you truly have no cause except money. You're not saving anyone; what a waste of time." The voidwalker sacrificed himself and faded away.

Zilis sighed. "What crawled up 'is ass...?"

"A fireball." The high voice of the imp screeched as Zilis was hit in the leg with one. As the rogue looked for the imp, she saw that it was already far ahead and running further into Hyjal.

"Ow.." Zilis mumbled as she brushed the ash off her leg. "'e be getting on mah nerves."

They both looked around, trying to figure out what the warlock could be doing up in the hills of Hyjal. Zilis was sure it couldn't be good, but Xainia was beginning to doubt their purpose. The infernal had tried force, the succbus had tried trickery, and the voidwalker had challenged resolve. Xainia could only think about what might challenge them next, and she couln't shake the familiarity of the name Kalona either. Beliefs and doubts aside, the force they were about to encounter was beyond death, beyond light and darkness, and beyond either of them.


	11. Encore Part 2: Confrontation

**Chapter 11: Encore part 2 – Confrontation **

"Dis place be big. But with tha gate closed wha could he be doin here?" Xainia questioned as she took out her whistle and prepared to call Zahriel.

"Ah dunno…" Zilis thought for a moment.

Playing the usual tune, Xainia made Zahriel appear for her in a flash of light from the sky. Feeding the raptor, she waited for her friend. Zilis remembered hearing legends of a terrible demon that had been slain in Hyjal. Thinking of the worst, the figured that the warlock was intending to absorb the demon's remaining power.

Xainia noticed Zilis' thoughts forming up. "What ya be thinkin he do? Do we hafta hurry again?"

"'Ey may be lookin' fer powah 'ere, if 'ey's not tryin' tah un-lock some Demonic army ontah 'da world..."

Xainia climbed onto Zahriel. "Den we gotta hurrah."

"'Ey can't be up tah anah good 'ere, we bettah find 'im" As Zilis said this, she lowered to one knee. "Ah dun see anah tracks"

"Maybe dah demons erased dem or dah forests heal dem quickly." Xainia suggested.

"Prollah. A'ight, les go..." Zilis started running along the pre-made path on the mountian.

"Get on. Zahriel be fast." Xainia held out her hand as Zilis took it and hopped on the raptor also.

Zahriel sped off along the path, riding through the winding trails of Hyjal. It was early morning when they fought the demons and passed through darkwhisper gorge. It would take them the majority of the day to ride through Hyjal if not longer. As they passed on, they came across several craters. The craters were obviosly fel-tainted, but they were clear of demons.

"Each ah dese been one ah our base camps." Xainia remembered back from her stay at the orc camp. "Dah demons took each one on dah way to tha top."

Zilis said nothing, the sights simply reinforced her resolve. She was sitting in front on the saddle, Xainia leaned forward onto her and almost started dozing off while they rode, so much had already happened this day. Zilis couldn't rest, she had to find and stop this warlock from doing what she imagined. The rogue smiled at Xainia leaning on her; the priest had always been one to look to her for such things and she couldn't say that she disliked it.

As evening began to fall, they came to a final path up to the summit. Xainia woke up as Zahriel slowed down and crept to the top. Dismounting, Xainia motioned for Zilis to dismount. She took out her whistle and quietly played the tune to send Zahriel away. The priest's staff, Benediction, pulsed at being so close to the tree it was splintered from.

Xainia peeked around the corner at the top of the hill and looked back. "Dere it is." she looked back and whispered. "Tha world tree." Xainia pulled Zilis around the corner barely. They could see the tree, the demon's gigantic skeleton still hung lifeless from it. Archimonde had rotted away leaving only his skull, armor, and ribs. Zilis' expression turned grim upon seeing Archimonde.

"Dere someone down dere... by dah well ah eternity." Xainia looked over the cliff. "Dis too steep, we gonna hafta go around."

Zilis nodded quietly, she had been strangely quiet since entering this place. The two trolls moved quietly down the ramp, trying not to be noticed by the warlock. They could see in the distance that the figure had a demonskull helmet and bright robes, making his identity as the target unmistakable. The figure was standing on the shore of the well, looking out on the water.

"Ya gonna sneak up on 'im?" Xainia asked.

Zilis nodded and crouched down, adopting an almost animal-like stance in stealth. Xainia slowly started to move up, trying to keep her self hidden. Quietly, but with an alarming amount of speed for the stance, Zilis moved towards the target, her Blade already prepared with a special poison that her employer had provided.

"What are you going to do?" The figure at the well spoke. "I can see you." He hadn't turned. Zilis could now see a felhunter off in the underbrush staring at her and causing general parinoia for the warlock.

Xainia made it up behind to near Zilis while the rogue formed a response. "Ah'm gunna stop ya..."

"Stop me from doing what?" The warlock turned to her and Xainia. He was still wearing his mask.

"Ya be here fer powah, dun ya?" Zilis accused him.

Xainia heard the voice in her head again at the same time that Zilis spoke. "Help me." The voice was now recognizable as the warlock's voice. In an instant, Xainia knew it was familiar; but she could not tell why yet.

"No. I am here to step into the light for a moment; to prove something to myself and perhaps gain a new beginning." The warlock removed his helmet and put it in one of his bags.

Xainia took a step back when he did, shivering slightly. "Ma… ma.." she whispered almost inaudibly as she backed away more, putting benediction back into its holster.

"You have made it past my demons. You've made quite a respectable run at killing me; however, your journey ends here. My own are loyal to me." The warlock looked at them both, especially Xainia.

Zilis felt a chill run up her spine. She knew this warlock somehow, indirectly perhaps. Despite this, she still bore her blade at the undead, determined to finish the mission.

"We sha gah, Zilis." Xainia puts her hand on Zilis' shoulder and then looked at the warlock, her eyes filling with tears slightly. "We sha gah nah."

Zilis stood there, seemingly frozen. "..."

Xainia looked at Zilis and at the warlock. She looked very worried and thought to herself. "Ah haven't used it in sah long... ah might hafta ta stop dis."

The words of the one who hired Zilis came to her mind. "Don't let him trick you. He has a way with words, but do not listen… he is a slaver. A pitiful beast who wishes only to control."

Xainia released her grip. Still quivering as the warlock looked at her. The words in Zilis' mind created an image that fueled great anger, but she still hesitated.

"So then, what are you going to do, 'brave' assasin?" Maldelic goaded her.

Still worried, Xainia thought of what she could do. She detected a magic about the poison and dispelled it, hoping that Zilis wouldn't notice in the moment. The words continued in Zilis' mind as Xainia was filled with division on what she would have to do. The voice in Zilis mind was more malignant than Maldelic ever was to Xainia, egging her on and trying to convince her that this warlock sought only to control.

"As yah seek tah control me?!" Zilis hissed back to the voice in her head, silencing it. At the same time, Zilis wondered which warlock was really doing this.

Maldelic grinned, knowing the poison's magic was gone. "I dealt with an assassin once on a friendly basis. She saw my friends through many adventures, but when the opportunity to leave came, she was gone faster than the targets that she chose to destroy. Do what you will with me, assasin? One motivated by nothing by money."

"Y'know, fer steppin into tha light yah bein' quite nasty. Ya left ah lot ah trouble fer us." Zilis looked up at him. "'Ou ya explain 'dat, puppeteer?"

The warlock offered no explanation. He turned away from her, disinterested. The words still echoed in Zilis' head; 'My own are loyal to me". This phrase filled the rogue with dread. As he walked away, the warlock reached the side of the lake and bent down to one knee, having the audacity to dip his hand in and run it around in the waters. When he did, the hand looked renewed and human, but as soon as he withdrew it, it returned to undeath. This entertained the warlock; he smirked and sat by the shore. Suddenly, Zilis' keen ears heard the imp running around preparing a fireball. The undead suddenly looked over, not realizing that the imp was going to be mischievous like this. Hukkthun fired a big one at Zilis, but she blocked it with her arm and turned, kicking the imp as if it were a child's toy. The warlock did not even look twice as she punted his pet.

"An ya even let ya 'pets' out dere tah die." Zilis started approaching.

Xainia took her staff out of its holder and held it infront of Zilis. "Ah dun care who he be, nah warlock leave dere pets tah die like dat." Xainia lied, knowing that some warlocks might but her master did not. Masking her resentment at the statement, she slowly withdrew her staff.

Not turning to see Xainia, Zilis kept her eyes fixed on the warlock. "He be doin evil tings here, it dun mattah. We gotta stop 'im."

"You've never done anything worth much have you? Just lived and seen people die before you. Is it perhaps because you fear the beyond? You fear what death would do so you appease it with killings?" The warlock challenged.

"Ah dun naht fear death..." Zilis snapped back at him, becoming tired of his remarks.

"Well then, I suppose we will remain here until then. Your employer will be quite displeased knowing you've failed." The warlock stood his ground.

"Look, if ya be innocent like ya say, leave 'dis place" Zilis demanded.

Brushing off the assasin, Maldelic drew his staff and leaned on it like a walking stick. "I move for no one tonight, especially some assassin. Now go on your way, young one. You are beginning to bore me."

"'Den ah kinnaht allow ya ta remain." Zilis spoke these words somewhat sadly. She turned and adopted her combat stance. "Spirits be wid ya, foul 'un." The wolf mask growled as Zilis moved to attack.

The warlock smiled as he stood and faced her, pulling down his robe to bear his chest slightly. "Bring me your hate and your venom, assassin," The felhunter growled, wanting to engage the troll, but it held back at its master's command. 'Now we will see if loyalty exists for the dead.' He thought to himself.

Zilis vanished from his sight, the felhunter looked around, trying to see her and alert his master. Just as fast as she dissapeared, she reappeared, delivering a roundhouse kick to the Warlock's side. Following up on the kick, she elbowed the undead in the side of the head.

"Nah. Mastah!" In an instant, before Zilis' next move, Xainia's thoughts raced. She had not used her real power in a long time, since she had come to serve the Argent Dawn. She knew that she could not allow this to happen, but she could not tell Zilis everything for fear of hurting her. It was too late now, the attack had begun. Within the split seconds, Xainia reached out her hand and saw the shadows race across her skin as she changed into shadowform. The burning flames lit up as the eyes on her helmet glowed red. The priestess raised her staff in her other hand and it transformed from Benediction into Anathema. She reached out for the attacking rogue, raging at her former master being attacked. A tendril of shadow shot out from her arm, wrapping around Zilis' middle. This beam of shadow threw the troll up into the air and brought her down fairly hard on the ground a small distance away.

Xainia rushed to the warlock's side. "Mastah, ah yah all right?" Xainia saw to him.

"My name is Maldelic; you should call me by that, Xainia." The warlock stood beside his former student as they both looked to Zilis.

Zilis rose to her feet slowly, the full realization of the connection between them hitting her. "Xai… … …"

"He dah not die taday." Xainia said. "Ah sorry, Zilis. Ah wun let yah do dis."

"He be 'dah 'un 'dat made 'da shadah ah ya? 'Da Tyrant 'dat destoyed anah life it found an consumed it? 'Dat was 'is doing?!" Zilis looked extremely angry of her own accord now.

"Nah. Yah dun be sayin dat. Da Mas… Maldelic nevah do sometin like dat, he save me. He found me as nothin an showed me tha way ta avenge wha happened tah me." Xainia came out of the shadows. "Yah lissen tah me. If it wun fah him, ah'd be waitin tah die in tha middle ah nowhere."

Zilis dropped her weapons, torn by inner conflict. She couldn't believe that her friend would attack her over this warlock. She saw the two standing together in such harmony, and even became jealous of that. The rogue saw this warlock as the source of all of Xainia's troubles… yet Xainia clung to him so dearly.

"I suppose now that the cards are on the table. Well they all are aren't they? Who was it that sent you again?" The warlock prodded.

The rogue fell to one knee and began to tremble as the voice in her head kept repeating 'Kill him'. It caught the rogue off guard that she heard her employer at all in her mind, but she had thought it only a memory. Now it was getting louder and orders were being given.

"Was it, Selima?" Maldelic insinuated.

Without warning, Zilis stood up completely straight, her hands on her head and screamed, her voice echoing for miles. "SHUT UP!!" The wolf mask fell off of her face in the stress.

"Who would pay you to see my death. Do you now realize that she hates Xainia too and would see her dead?" Maldelic continued. "You would kill me and then she would have you kill even those you care about."

The voice that had seemed a memory in her head continued further; the voice of her employer. It wouldn't stop; it kept talking despite her protests. The conflict and the pain kept her from using her shamanistic abilities to block it out.

Xainia tried to soothe Zilis' mind from where she stood. "Is dis true?" Xainia tried to approach. "Was it Selima?"

_"Kill him. It must be done. Kill the girl too, if she gets in the way" _The voice echoed.

"Ah wun do it, shut up." Zilis started tearing up at the suggestion that she would even have to lay a finger on Xainia.

_"It must be done"_ The voice continued, ordering again.

"'Dat's fer me tah decide." Zilis said again.

_"You will do this." _The voice of Selima ordered.

"Shut..UP!" Zilis demanded, still crying each time that the voice spoke.

_"Do it… __Now!"_

Xainia picked up on the voice, knowing that she was only hearing half the conversation. "Somethin not be right in dis place." Xainia tried to cast more dispels. "Dun lissen tah her." The priestess fully understood what was being said now. "It's not like yah can do anahting anahway. Ah dulled yah poison. He wun die from it."

_"She is meddling. You must kill her as well." _The voice changed its focus to Xainia.

"Ah wun do it! Nah Xainia! Gid outta mah head." Zilis was a wreck, broken down crying and wrestling for control of her actions.

"Dun yah see? Selima is ah warlock too. An she be forcin her will on yah just like yah be some pet. Maldelic nevah did sometin like dat! Evah!" Xainia tried to plea with her friend.

"Ah know… ah kin't...git 'er...out..." Zilis started beating herself about the head in helplessness.

Xainia's eyes lit up with a crazy idea as she prepared to take action. "Dun hate me fah dis." She said quietly as she faded into the shadows again. "Please dun." The priest took a deep breath and dropped into shadowform, casting the most powerful mindblast she could muster. Zilis screamed and was knocked backwards from the kneeling position she was in, she didn't move for some time, but smoke rose from the area of her head.

"That warlock... is a demon herself; a succubus in the body of an undead. I will do what I can." Maldelic lifted his staff and channeled the power from it in the air above him. With the power he could give, he cast the widest range banish that he could on the area to try and ward Selima off.

Xainia slowly approached Zilis, coming back from the shadow and renewing the other troll. The priestess was very worried for her friend, the mind blast that had knocked Selima loose was extremely powerful.

"unhh.." Zilis was coming to slowly.

"Are yah you?" Xainia asked her friend quietly. "An onlah you?"

Zilis let out a groan of deep pain and then silence fell. Zilis started laughing coldly. "Ya dun come between ah wolf and 'er prey..."

Both of them tensed up for a moment at this comment, hoping that Zilis wouldn't renew her attack upon them. The troll scrounged around and found her helmet, putting it back on.

Zilis laughed again as she slowly got to her feet. "Unless 'dey've got 'dah wrong prey."

Xainia let out a sigh of relief as Zilis looked at Maldelic. She still had so many questions, but she couldn't think of them. Wasn't this the creator of the parasite she hated? Zilis could feel that she didn't want to kill him anymore, but she could not think of what changed her mind.

Maldelic cracked a wry grin, unusual for an undead. "So then I have some explaining to do I guess."

"Maldelic… be ya name?" Zilis asked, more politely than when she had first approached him.

"Yes." he responded. "That is what I call myself."

Zilis walked to him, and kneeled before him. "Mah apolgies."

"It is not neccesary, young one, but I will accept. I have seen more than I have in years tonight." Maldelic looked to the east. "Come this way. We will need to make a fire away from the shadow of the tree. It is getting dark."

Zilis nodded quietly and went with her friend and the former master. Khuufen, the felhunter, followed too, rubbing up against Xainia's leg. Falling in step slightly behind Xainia, she rubbed the ash off and tears off her face.

"Ah sorrah ah had ta hit yah dat hard, Zilis." Xainia apologized.

Managing a smile, Zilis thanked Xainia. "Ah dun mind... ah had ta be rid ah dat voice."

Maldelic soon gathered some wood and set it aflame instantly with a spell. "Sit down, both of you. I have a long story to tell. You should eat, for it spans many years. Perhaps it will put some of my motives in the light."

Xainia sat by the fire as he instructed, wanting to know what her former master had to tell. Zilis stood for a few moments, slightly stunned, then sat and looked at the fire in silence. At that point, Maldelic told the long story of his life as a human.

He had been a paladin of the silver hand that voluntarily entered exile in protest of being used as a slaver to the orcs. Though he thought that the power of light had left him, it came to the aid of his group of friends in Northrend at a time that they wandered the wastes endlessly after their caravan had been destroyed. Renewed in the light, he traveled with them and found an artifact of immense power, a dragon heart. They weren't the only people looking for the heart. Both the scourge and a power hungry dark iron dwarf were searching for the heart as they came across it.

Finding shelter in the most unlikely of places, they were taken in for the winter along with the heart by a nerubian named Neru'Rekan; the spider-warlock that had come to help free Xainia from Maldelic. The colony they entered was called Nerub'Itjahz, known among nerubians for its magical Itjahzi Crystals; crystals made from the magic of the dragons above the colony. It was there that Maldelic, then Methuselah, had fallen in love with one of the group, an elf named Arisia. Ranilok was also there has he had been at the ceremony; though he failed to gain Arisia's favor over Methuselah. After leaving the Nerubians, they were immediately apprehended by the blue dragonflight and brought before Malygos, where they gave up the dragon heart… much to Ranilok's distress. Instead of sending them home, Malygos put them back out in the wastes of Northrend with nothing except a promise of aid to Methuselah for turning over the heart. Normally the dragon aspect was much kinder, but the ruckus that Ranilok had made over Methuselah turning over the heart had stirred the dragon's ire.

They continued across Northrend, but were found by the dark iron dwarf that had wanted the heart. Maddened and not believing that they had lost it, he had them attacked by a group of tuskarr that he had threatened. Doing the most selfless thing he could think of, Methuselah called the dragonflights to send his friends home and send the tuskarr away so that he could even the odds between him and the dwarf. The light failed Methuselah in the battle; he turned to the dwarf with the power of darkness and won, but was mortally wounded in the process.

Vowing to return for the friend that he had wronged by his greed, Ranilok came back to Northrend from the safe part of Quel'thalas that they had been sent to. Eventually Ranilok discovered Methuselah had been taken by the scourge. With the aid of Neru'Rekan, they rescued his soul from the undead vessel and held it in the nerubian colony for several years. The terror wasn't over for them; the animated shell traveled to Quel'thalas with the scourge and nearly attacked Arisia.

Several years later, after the scourge had passed from Tirisfal, the body awoke again. After gaining power as a warlock, was drawn back to Northrend and Methuselah's soul was rejoined with it. Ranilok was present at this ceremony too; he took a binding crystal from the colony and brought it back with them to Lordaeron. It was this crystal that eventually bound Xainia, after Hasur and Okquina had shown him to her and convinced him that it was the best use for such an item. In truth, Maldelic had felt called to Xainia too, she reminded him of Arisia when they first met. Xainia needed direction; however, she needed more than the simple push out of the door that Arisia had gotten.

"And that is how it began." Maldelic paused after finishing the long tale. It was late at night now, but Zilis and Xainia were wide awake still after hearing such a moving story. "After that point, I trained you as best as I could, but I tried to keep my distance. I protected you completely until that night in the desert. I don't suppose you've ever told Zilis of it." Maldelic paused for Xainia's response.

"Nah, ah had nah reason tah mention dat. It was ah bad night." Xainia spoke in reference the night when she was in Tanaris and beset by the Sandfury trolls.

"Wha he talking ahbout?" Zilis looked to Xainia and asked.

"Dah first time ah turned inta dah shadahs. It was dat night." Xainia looked a bit sad at remembering it then turned to Maldelic. "Sah what of dat night."

"After that night, the shadows you had feared before I came to help you manifested themselves in that shadowform. Your guilt manifested itself as hate, but because you were bound to me it could never fully take you over. You could not have two masters. It became so strong as you grew in strength that it became like a second will. Because you entrusted so much to me, it was easily able to associate itself with all of your shadow powers and let you use them until the time came." Maldelic tried to explain some of the past year to Xainia. "And then you met Telina. I tried to ward her away because I didn't think that she could help you… I only thought I was capable of that. I suppose she helped you and she helped me realize that it was my time to step to the side."

"Was dat all?" Xainia questioned.

"It was part of it. I also knew I could not control someone that had become as powerful as you with my passive tactics. I couldn't take more control and make you live your life under me forever. If you didn't notice, everyone was there when you were freed except me; Ranilok, Neru'Rekan, Hasur, Okquina, Telina. I couldn't be present; the crystal bound me to try to stop you from being freed… even if I wanted to free you. It was then that the shadow came out. You were confused, lost, you didn't understand why I was leaving and in that moment the shadow began to take you over. I was too prideful to realize that it was wrong to simply let you go. I should have told you that it was going to happen and I should have prepared you. I only realized the feeling that you were experiencing when you were already being freed… the same separation that I felt from Arisia and that she must have felt when she re-appeared in Quel'thalas without me in sight. In that moment of weakness, all of the shadow that I had restrained in you manifested as the being which you fought for control with."

"Sah den dat was where da paracite came from." Zilis frowned, looking horribly embarrassed with herself and then turning to Xainia. "Ah'm sorrah Xai… ah wanted sometin tah blame fah it. Ah wanted tah show how much ah friend yah were by fixin whatevah caused yah sah much pain."

"Yah nevah had tah… but ah did need yah. If yah hadn't ah stepped in, ah'd be not me anahmore." Xainia thanked Zilis and then looked back to Maldelic for him to continue.

Trying to pick back up somewhere close, Maldelic acknowledged Xainia's friends. "I knew that you had the spirit and the power to overcome within you… I don't help when there's no change of success. The shadow stood in as a new master for you until Telina, and eventually Zilis were able to give you the little push that you needed to overcome. Now you've done it, and I am glad that they were able to succeed where I wasn't.

"What about Selima?" Xainia asked, as Zilis winced at the name.

"You know of her better than I. You are the one who met her first and you know that she saw your shadow and saw me through it The truth about Selima is that she is a succubus trapped in that body. She detested your training because she saw you as my slave just as she was once a minion to another warlock. She would not be talked down or stopped; I suppose she felt like she was doing right. Today, you have shown me more than that warlock will ever know. You've shown me that hope and faith can still exist in the land of the dead. You've proven that help does not go thankless and without loyalty. Here, at this fountain of magic and life, is the best place to gain hope in this existence. I had no ill intent in coming here."

"Den what about dah demons dat ya had tah face us?" Xainia asked.

"I knew that woman had sent someone. If I had put up no fight, she might have suspected that you would help me earlier than she did. Realizing such a thing might have caused her to make the two of you to fight." Maldelic explained carefully.

Zilis sat quietly. More tears on her cheek reflected the fire before her. It filled her with sadness to know that she had been dominated in such a way and that she had nearly been forced to hurt Xainia as Xainia stopped her from harming Maldelic.

"What would you ask of me, Zilis?" Maldelic turned to her.

The rogue did not reply; she seemed lost in thought. Xainia asked a question in the interim. "Why did yah leave when yah stopped bein dah mastah? Yah coulda come back an stopped dah shadah."

"I... I felt I couldn't know you any other way, Xainia. I thought my work was done and that I should step away. I am sorry that I faded so wordlessly. I suppose I may be sentimental in knowing you again now, but that is not always bad." Maldelic tried to explain his decision not to return.

"Sa das it den? Ah thought yah was an undead an ya actin more human den anahbodah 'round 'ere." Zilis finally commented.

"Humans are strange. Through their meddling both directly and indirectly, things like this demon above us came into the world." Maldelic pointed at the skeleton of Archimonde that hung above them. "I'll always be human to some extent. As much as my body may be dead, my soul is intact. What's important is that Xainia has chained the shadow completely."

"How yah know about that?" Xainia asked in reference to the shadow in her soul. She didn't know how Maldelic could know about what she had done to the shadow entity in her head.

"You would assume that I would miss an army of hundreds going to do battle? I was there, though unrecognized." Maldelic paused, remembering the army of nearly four hundred that Xainia's shadowform had led to Jintha'Alor. "I have helped other times too. You didn't think that the Eye of Shadow for that staff that you wear so proudly came into your possession without help?"

"Dah was you who sent dat?" Xainia looked more thankfull then she could express as she looked at the greenish shadowy eye that floated in the top of Anathema.

"Yes, an old friend gave it to me, and I knew it would be of use to you." Maldelic answered.

"Ah can't believe dat be all dere is." Zilis sighed and let go of her wish for revenge that she had held onto so dearly.

"If you were hoping for something more glorious or exciting, some grand design, I am sorry. There is nothing more. The whole affair was a fancy of an undead to bring hope and to help someone in the best way possible." Maldelic concluded.

"Nah..." Zilis looked happily towards Xainia, glad that everything had been resolved.

Kneeling down by the well of eternity beneath the world tree, Maldelic took a few handfuls of Itjahzi Crystals from his bag; he had guilted Ranilok into handing them over when the elf had shown up to help free Xainia. Dipping them into the very edge of the well, he smiled again as his hand went back to being human within the pure bounds of the water. With the great magic of the well, Maldelic only had to think of what he wanted of the crystals and he received. One of the handfuls of crystals turned into a beautiful crystal rose with the Itjahzi blue hue to it. The second handful transformed into a likeness of a baby dragonhawk with the same transparency and coloring. Reaching into his bag for some reason again, he took the very last of the crystal that he had and it was changed into an intricate deep blue crystal neckpiece. Removing his hands from the lake, Maldelic watched them wither once more again and then he placed the three items into his bags. The warlock rose from the river and turned to the two trolls.

"Now I must be going. There is an affair of my own I have to attend to. The only thing left for me, with this over." The undead walked away from them, searching his bags for his hearthstone.

Xainia looked at him, remembering about Arisia. She smiled, inwardly hoping the best for him. "Mastah, Ah know yah can find ha. Yah found me in dah wilderness an ya brought me tah here. Yah be findin ha befah yah know it."

"I hope you're right, Xainia. I can only hope that the hands of the fate will change from the dismal path that they point to. It is all that I have." The warlock spoke honestly to them as he disappeared with the aid of his hearthstone.

Xainia pulled Zilis back down to beside the fire after Maldelic had dissappeared. "Ah like dis place. Ah moment ah peace in dis crazy world."

"...Yah..." Zilis slumped against Xainia with a sigh. "Long day..."

"Yah. Let's go tah sleep." Xainia rubbed her nose against Zilis' nose.

They both slept as the fire faded. The great questions that had been left open were now answered for them. The solution showed them that, all creatures, no matter how they appeared, didn't have to act in key with their looks; undead could hope and faith, priests could hate and destroy, and vengeful assassins could relinquish their venom. It was all brought together in the land where peace and immortality were born, and yet where chaos had reigned only a few years before. Hardly a 'waste of time', as some demons would have called it.


End file.
